Abstract
Soot from a paraffin candle diffusion flame was collected on a quartz plate and exposed to oxygen atoms in a flow tube apparatus under carefully controlled conditions. The gaseous combustion products, CO 2 and CO, were measured as a function of time during the combustion using a mass spectrometer, while the weight change of the soot was monitored by a microbalance. The striking feature of this oxidation chemistry is the substantial net adsorption of oxygen atoms by the soot. Under our experimental conditions, the soot adsorbed up to 25 % by weight oxygen, compared to an initial soot composition of less than 5 % by weight oxygen. This is a chemical adsorption, in which the oxygen atoms are strongly bonded to carbon atoms in the soot. Statistically this 25 % oxygen corresponds to one oxygen atom for every four carbon atoms in the soot. At 23 °C, oxygen atom adsorption on fresh soot is much faster than the production of gas-phase oxidation products. Furthermore, the oxygen laden soot does not produce gaseous CO 2 and CO at room temperature in the absence of O atoms; additional energy and/or chemistry is required to produce these gaseous oxidation products.
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