Dynamics study of ClO + O2 collisions and their role in the chemistry of stratospheric ozone

Abstract

We investigate the role of ClO + O₂ collisions in the chemistry of stratospheric ozone. Assuming nascent distributions for the ClO and O₂ initial vibrational states, a detailed trajectory study shows that the thermal rate coefficient for ozone formation has Arrhenius-type behaviour over the range of temperatures of relevance at such altitudes, while the ClO and O₂ product vibrational distributions emerging from non-reactive events resemble closely the nascent distributions.