Selective O–H Bond Cleavage in the Radiolysis of Quartz

Cleavage of the O–H bond in quartz was studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and ESR spectroscopy. When quartz single crystals and fused silica glass are γ‐irradiated at 77 K, hydrogen atoms are produced by rupture of O–H bonds. The initial efficiency of O–H bond cleavage in quartz single crystals, i.e. the initial yield of H atoms, was three times as great as that in fused silica glass, although the concentration of O–H bonds in quartz single crystals (70 ppm) is much lower than that in fused silica glass (4000 ppm). The efficiency of O–H bond cleavage in quartz single crystals indicates that energy transfer from the irradiated single crystal to the O–H bonds takes place effectively at 77 K. The efficiency of O–H bond cleavage decreases with increasing γ‐ray dose, i.e. with increasing amounts of radiation‐induced defects in quartz single crystals. When the radiation‐induced defects are removed by annealing the irradiated quartz single crystal at 773 K, the O–H bonds are ruptured again as effectively as for a fresh quartz single crystal. The distance of the energy transfer, estimated by a target model, is ∼15 nm.