A kinetic study of the reaction of copper atoms in the gas phase with molecular oxygen at 300 K in microwave-induced plasma afterglows

The reaction between gas-phase copper atoms Cug(42S) and molecular oxygen has been investigated in a fast-flow reactor in the pressure range 5.5–12 Torr. As a source of Cug the new technique of plasma afterglow atomization of CuCl and Cu(CH3CO2)2 in H2/Ar microwave induced plasmas was used. The copper atoms were detected by atomic absorption spectroscopy. The rate constant for the reaction Cug+O2+Ar → CuO2+Ar was found to be (3.8±0.2)× 10–31 cm6 molecule–2s–1 at 300 K. For the diffusion coefficient of Cug in argon the value of DCu,Ar= 219.9±9.2 cm2 Torr s–1 was derived at 300 K.