Effect of Ammonium Ions on the Radiation Degradation of Potassium Nitrate

The formation and thermal conversion of paramagnetic centers in -irradiated single crystals of potassium nitrate with an ammonium nitrate impurity was studied by EPR spectroscopy. It was found that the presence of ammonium nitrate decreased the radiation-chemical yield of nitrite ions, which are one of the final radiolysis products of nitrate-containing compounds. An analysis of the results of a study on NO₂ orientation in the KNO₃ crystal lattice with an impurity of NH⁺ ₄ allowed us to propose a mechanism for selective N–O bond rupture in the radiation-stimulated dissociation of the nitrate ion in a potassium nitrate matrix.