Abstract
IT has been known for some time1,2 that the presence of aromatic compounds in solutions of saturated hydrocarbons can protect the solvent against radiation-induced decomposition. Since the aromatic solute plays a mainly ‘non-sacrificial’ part, scavenging of chemical intermediates (atoms, radicals, or ions) cannot be the major process in the observed protection3–5. Rather, it has been proposed2 that some sort of efficient energy transfer from the solvent, which absorbs the primary radiation, to the solute must operate. The recent observations of thermal electrons produced in relatively high yield in the radiolysis of aliphatic hydrocarbons in the glassy6 and liquid7 states indicated that it would be interesting to investigate whether there is a link between radiation protection by aromatic compounds and their electron affinity as it is known that these compounds are electron acceptors.
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SHERMAN, W. A Correlation between Electron Affinity and Protection in the Radiation Chemistry of Hydrocarbons. Nature 210, 1285–1286 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1038/2101285a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2101285a0
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