Kinetics of photolysis of nitric acid vapour. Part 3.—Photolysis of nitric acid in the presence of H2, CO and hydrocarbons
Abstract
The photolysis of nitric acid has been studied, at 2650 Å at room temperature, in the presence of H2 and CO, respectively. It was concluded that HNO3 decomposes according to a chain mechanism in the presence of these gases. The mechanism has been discussed in detail. The results made it possible to determine rate constants for the reactions of nitric acid with hydroxyl radicals and hydrogen atoms, respectively. The rate constants obtained from different experiments were compared with one another and with the data available in the literature.