Combinations of Aromatic and Aliphatic Radiolysis.

The production of H(2) in the radiolysis of benzene, methylbenzene (toluene), ethylbenzene, butylbenzene, and hexylbenzene with γ-rays, 2-10 MeV protons, 5-20 MeV helium ions, and 10-30 MeV carbon ions is used as a probe of the overall radiation sensitivity and to determine the relative contributions of aromatic and aliphatic entities in mixed hydrocarbons. The addition of an aliphatic side chain with progressively from one to six carbon lengths to benzene increases the H(2) yield with γ-rays, but the yield seems to reach a plateau far below that found from a simple aliphatic such as cyclohexane. There is a large increase in H(2) with LET (linear energy transfer) for all of the substituted benzenes, which indicates that the main process for H(2) formation is a second-order process and dominated by the aromatic entity.

Radiation-Induced Chemical Changes to Iron Oxides.

The radiolysis of a variety of iron oxide powders with different amounts of associated water has been performed using γ rays and 5 MeV (4)He ions. Adsorbed water was characterized by both temperature-programmed desorption and diffuse reflection infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy to reveal a variety of active sites on the surface. Molecular hydrogen production was found only from water adsorbed on Fe2O3, and the yield was several orders of magnitude greater than that of bulk water.