Effect of Organic Impurities on the Observed Activation Energy of CO2 Dissociation

Abstract

Earlier data on the rate of CO₂ dissociation in shock waves [T. C. Clark, S. H. Garnett, and G. B. Kistiakowsky, J. Chem. Phys. 51, 2885 (1969)] is reinterpreted assuming that small amounts of organic impurity were present. It is shown that the data are consistent with an activation energy for the dissociation as high as 100 kcal/mole, a significantly higher value than that previously reported. The kinetic implications of this finding are discussed.