Time-dependent yield of the hydrated electron in subcritical and supercritical water studied by ultrafast pulse radiolysis and Monte-Carlo simulation

Abstract

Fast kinetics and time-dependent yields of the hydrated electron (e⁻_aq) in pure water under conditions of high temperature and pressure up to the supercritical region were investigated by picosecond and nanosecond pulse radiolysis experiments. More significant decays at short times followed by plateau components at longer times were observed with increasing temperature, suggesting faster spur reaction processes. In supercritical water, it was also found that the e⁻_aq yields strongly depend on the pressure (density). Comparison of these measurements with Monte-Carlo computer simulations allowed us to identify spur reactions of e⁻_aq that occur predominantly at high temperatures and also to provide new key information on certain spur model parameters. In particular, the experimental time-dependent e⁻_aq yields were best reproduced if the electron thermalization distance decreases with increasing temperature. This “shrinkage” of spur sizes at high temperatures was attributed to an increase in the scattering cross sections of subexcitation electrons, likely originating from a decrease in the degree of structural order of water molecules as the temperature is increased.