Mechanisms of Electron-Induced Chemistry in Molecular Ices

Electron-induced chemistry is relevant to many processes that occur when ionizing radiation interacts with matter. This includes radiation damage, curing of polymers, and nanofabrication processes but also the formation of complex molecules in molecular ices grown on dust particles in space. High-en...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inAtoms Vol. 10; no. 1; p. 25
Main Authors Schmidt, Fabian, Borrmann, Tobias, Mues, Martin Philipp, Benter, Sanna, Swiderek, Petra, Bredehöft, Jan Hendrik
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.03.2022
Subjects
Ammonia
astrochemistry
Chemical reactions
Chemistry
Desorption
electron-induced reactions
Electrons
Energy
Experiments
Ionizing radiation
mass spectrometry
Nanofabrication
Organic chemistry
Radiation
radiation chemistry
Radiation damage
secondary electrons
thermal desorption spectrometry
Ultrahigh vacuum
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Electron-induced chemistry is relevant to many processes that occur when ionizing radiation interacts with matter. This includes radiation damage, curing of polymers, and nanofabrication processes but also the formation of complex molecules in molecular ices grown on dust particles in space. High-energy radiation liberates from such materials an abundance of secondary electrons of which most have energies below 20 eV. These electrons efficiently trigger reactions when they attach to molecules or induce electronic excitation and further ionization. This review focuses on the present state of insight regarding the mechanisms of reactions induced by electrons with energies between 0 and 20 eV that lead to formation of larger products in binary ice layers consisting of small molecules (H2O, CO, CH3OH, NH3, CH4, C2H4, CH3CN, C2H6) or some derivatives thereof (C2H5NH2 and (C2H5)2NH, CH2=CHCH3). It summarizes our approach to identify products and quantify their amounts based on thermal desorption spectrometry (TDS) and electron-stimulated desorption (ESD) experiments performed in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV). The overview of the results demonstrates that, although the initial electron-molecule interaction is a non-thermal process, product formation from the resulting reactive species is often governed by subsequent reactions that follow well-known thermal and radical-driven mechanisms of organic chemistry.
ISSN:2218-2004
2218-2004
DOI:10.3390/atoms10010025