Tailoring the Acidity of Liquid Media with Ionizing Radiation -- Rethinking the Acid-Base Correlation Beyond pH
Abstract
Advanced in situ techniques based on electrons and X-rays are increasingly used to gain insights into fundamental materials dynamics in liquid media. Yet, ionizing radiation changes the solution chemistry. In this work, we show that ionizing radiation decouples the acidity from autoprotolysis. Consequently, pH is insufficient to capture the acidity of water-based systems under irradiation. Via radiolysis simulations, we provide a more conclusive description of the acid-base interplay. Finally, we demonstrate that acidity can be tailored by adjusting the dose rate and adding pH-irrelevant species. This opens up a huge parameter landscape for studies involving ionizing radiation.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2209.05331,
title = {Tailoring the Acidity of Liquid Media with Ionizing Radiation -- Rethinking the Acid-Base Correlation Beyond pH},
author = {Birk Fritsch and Andreas Körner and Thaïs Couasnon and Roberts Blukis and Mehran Taherkhani and Liane G. Benning and Michael P. M. Jank and Erdmann Spieker and Andreas Hutzler},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2209.05331},
year = {2023}
}
Comments
21 pages, 9 figures (main: 8 pages, 3 figures + SI: 13 pages, 6 figures)