Formation and dissociation of C2 from high temperature pyrolysis of acetylene

Abstract

Kinetics of formation and decay of C₂ produced by passing shock waves through dilute C₂H₂+ Ar mixtures were studied at temperatures in the range 4860–6920 K. The kinetics of formation of C₂ were in essential agreement with a postulated simple two-step dissociation of C₂H₂ by Ar. The rate constant for the dissociation of C₂ by Ar was found to be k_C2,Ar= 10^{–(9.21 ± 0.27)} exp(–581 ± 59 kJ mol^–1/RT) cm³ molecule^–1 s^–1.