Radiochemical oxidation of hydrazine in aqueous solutions containing oxygen

The chain mechanism of oxidation of hydrazine in aqueous solutions saturated with oxygen at pH > 7.5 was established. The yields of radiochemical decomposition of hydrazine increase with a decrease in the absorbed dose rate, an increase in the concentration of hydrazine, and the pH of the solution and attains hundreds of molecules per 100 eV of absorbed energy. It is hypothesized that the chain process includes a stage of formation of the N₂H₃ radical, its reaction with O₂, and the formation of O₂ ^– or N₂H₃O₂. The chain propagation reaction is due to the reaction of molecules of N₂H₄ with N₂H₃O₂ or O₂ ^–.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 11, pp. 2450–2453, November, 1989.