Decomposition of Carbon Dioxide by Ionizing Radiation. Part I

Abstract

The irradiation of gaseous carbon dioxide with radon or in a nuclear reactor, produces about 0.1 percent decomposition of primarily dissociated carbon dioxide, correlating with previous results in the literature. The irradiation of solid carbon dioxide with radon produces carbon monoxide and oxygen with a G value of 9 to 10. The irradiation of gaseous carbon dioxide, containing a small amount of nitrogen dioxide, by radon or in a nuclear reactor, produced carbon monoxide and oxygen, with a G value of 9 to 10. Percentages as small as 0.5 percent of nitrogen dioxide are sufficient to stop the back reaction to carbon dioxide. A new mechanism has therefore been proposed for the ineffectual decomposition of carbon dioxide by ionizing radiation, and the effective decomposition when nitrogen dioxide is present. With the proposed mechanisms, the classical experiments of Lind, the carbon monoxide oxidation and the carbon monoxide decomposition, are quantitatively explained.