A study of the reactions of fluorine with hydrogen and methane in the initiation phase using a miniature tubular reactor

A small tubular reactor having an inner diameter of 1–2 mm andused as the source in a molecular beam apparatus is described in detail. This arrangement allows the study of fast reactions with reaction times smaller than 1 msec. The preexplosive reaction phase between F₂ and H₂ and CH₄, respectively, is investigated to find out the initiation reactions. In the F₂/H₂ reaction, initiation is brought about by heterogeneous generation of F atoms or some other surface reaction. Evidence is also obtained for chain branching reactions. In the F₂/CH₄ case the dominant initiation reaction is the homogeneous reaction CH₄ + F₂ → CH₃ + HF + F. The rate constant for the reaction between 300 and 400 K is 10^12.3±0.3 exp[?47 ± 8 kJ/mol/RT] cm³/mol sec. The analysis of the experimental data also yields the rate constant for the propagation reaction CH₃ + F₂ → CH₃ F + F, which is 10^12.3±0.3 exp[?4.6 ±2.1 kJ/mol/RT] cm³/mol sec.