Studies of the initial steps in the polymerization of C2N2 induced by Xe+

Abstract

A Selected-Ion Flow Tube (SIFT) apparatus has been used to produce Xe+ by electron impact and to study its reactions with C2N2. The 2P3/2 and 2P1/2 spin states of Xe+ were observed to react differently: by C2N2 addition to form Xe+•C2N2 and by charge transfer to form C2N2+, respectively. Further ion–molecule reactions with C2N2 were observed to establish polymeric ions of the type (C2N2)x+. The results indicate that the simple charge transfer model may be sufficient to account for the rate enhancement observed in the radiolytic polymerization of C2N2/Xe mixtures.