Polarity effects in the radiolysis of n-alcohols
Abstract
The yields of solvated electrons and hydrogen atoms, the precursors of hydrogen, have been determined for a number of irradiated alcohols. The ratio of these yields has been related to the ratio of the number of sub-excitation electrons which escape their parent ions to the number which undergo geminate recombination. It has been shown that both the yield of solvated electrons and the ratio of this yield to the yield of hydrogen atoms increase as the dielectric constant of the liquid increases. The half-lives of solvated electrons in the alcohols have been calculated and shown to decrease with decreasing dielectric constant.