ESR Linewidth and Solution Stability Studies of Dilute Solutions of Cesium in Ethylamine–Ammonia Mixtures

Abstract

An electron spin resonance (ESR) study of the mI-dependent linewidth of the hyperfine pattern from cesium–amine solutions is reported. The ESR spectrum of the monomer in dilute solutions has Lorentzian-shaped lines. A two-state equilbrium model is sufficient to describe the linewidth dependence upon mI of an isothermal spectrum. Due to persistent problems with solution decomposition, however, data could not be obtained over a sufficient range of temperature and solvent composition to permit a distinction to be made among several possible models. A systematic study was made of the solution decomposition at room temperature. Solutions could be prepared which were stable for periods of weeks to months in the presence of excess metal and after some initial decomposition. However, for freshly prepared dilute solutions without excess metal the decomposition was much faster and depended on the surface-to-volume ratio of the container. Zero-order decay of the optical absorption was observed for a solution in a 2-mm-diam tube.