Direct spectroscopic observation of proton transfer rates: activation energy for proton exchange in ice Ic

Advantage has been taken of the ability to matrix isolate D₂O in H₂O ice I_c to determine the activation energy for proton transfer. The value computed from spectroscopic data is 9.3 ± 0.3 kcal which is comparable to accepted values of E_a for conduction (8.5–9.0 kcal) and the excitation energy for the OH stretching mode in H₂O ice I_c (≈ 9.2 kcal).