Interactions of CCl4 with Thin D2O Amorphous Ice Films, Part I: A Nanoscale Probe of Ice Morphology

Abstract

High sensitivity temperature-programmed desorption mass spectrometry (TPDMS) was used in order to investigate the adsorption of carbon tetrachloride on thin (∼500 ML) amorphous D2O ice films at 95 K. The TPDMS experiments demonstrate that the desorption kinetics of CCl4 are extremely sensitive to the ice morphology. At submonolayer coverages, the adsorption of CCl4 on ice films prepared by vapor deposition at 130 K results in TPD spectra which consist of a single desorption feature α-CCl4 at 133−140 K. The TPD spectrum of CCl4 from ice films vapor-deposited at 95 K, however, consists of three desorption peaks labeled σ-, δ-, and ε-CCl4 at 145, 180, and 190 K, respectively. We attribute the observed differences in the TPD spectra of CCl4 from the two types of ice to differences in the microstructure of the ice surface. D2O vapor deposition at 95 K apparently results in the formation of microporous amorphous ice, while deposition at 130 K results in the formation of pore-free, solid ice. Analysis of the TPD spectra demonstrates that CCl4 adsorption on ice prepared at 130 K results in the formation of metastable, two-dimensional islands. CCl4 adsorption on ice prepared at 95 K, however, proceeds through formation of three-dimensional clusters in the pores of microscopically rough ice. At very low coverages, small CCl4 clusters are trapped at the ice surface during TPD. Trapped CCl4 evolves into the gas phase at two different temperatures giving rise to δ- and ε-CCl4 desorption states. The dependence of δ- and ε-CCl4 yields on the temperature of ice film deposition indicates that two structurally different forms of ice coexist at temperatures between 95 and 130 K.