The Radiolysis of Water Vapor at Very High Dose Rates. I. Hydrogen Yields from H2O, H2O–HCl, and H2O–HBr Mixtures
The plateau yields of hydrogen from the Febetron radiolysis of mixtures of water vapor with up to 8 mol% of HCl or HBr are G(H2) = 7.9 ± 0.2 and G(H2) = 4.6 ± 0.2 with 1 mol% SF6. These yields are consistent with G(H) = 7.45 in pure water vapor and G(H) = 4.15 in water vapor with SF6. In the Febetron radiolysis of pure water vapor at 2 × 1027 eV g−1 s−1 and densities of ~1 mg ml−1G(H2) = 1.65 + 0.05 from 164 to 190 °C. This yield is reduced to G(H2) = 0.90 ± 0.05 on the addition of 1 mol% SF6. Using a second order equivalent rate constant for the disappearance of the OH radicals in water vapor at 1 mg ml−1 of 2 × 1010 M−1 s−1 these yields are consistent with ate constant values for the reactions H + OH (+H2O) → H2O, OH + OH (+H2O) → H2O2, and H + H (+H2O) → H2, of 1.7 ± 0.1 × 1010 M−1 s−1, 1.5 ± 0.5 × 109M−1 s−1, and 3 ± 1 × 108 M−1 s−1, respectively.