Loss of metallicity in metal rich lithium oxide clusters

Mixed lithium-lithium oxide aggregates are experimentally obtained from unimolecular evaporative cascades starting at metal rich Li-p(+)(Li2O)(n) species and ending with the stoichiometric limit Li+(Li2O)(n), for several sizes of the oxide part (Li2O)(n) with 0 less than or equal to n less than or equal to 8. The results show evidence of the vanishing of the properties of the quantum metallic droplet i.e. shell closing and odd-even alternation, portrayed in the dissociation energy, with increasing size of the oxide component. The competition between monomer and dimer lithium evaporation from the heated metal rich Li-p(+)(Li2O)(n) species points out the influence of the perturbation induced by the oxide component on the mixed metal oxide clusters.