| Abstract: | The oxygen-hydrogen system, including the reactive species H, O, H2, O2, O3, OH, and HO2, is very complex, and contains numerous reactions whose kinetics and branches have been insufficiently explored. In the present study we use computer modeling to simulate observations made in a 300-K ozone-hydrogen mixture, in which a critical H2 pressure leads to rapid ozone decomposition, and generation of high concentrations of atomic oxygen. Initiation of the reaction chain involves heterogeneous O and/or H atom production, and the chain branching step is the reaction OH(v) + O3 → OH + O + O2, which is shown to be the predominant pathway for these reactants. The critical H2 pressure (ca. 3 torr) sets important constraints upon the system kinetics. |
