Abstract
Samples of a natural amethyst, pulverized in air, and irradiated for gamma-ray doses from 0.14 to 70 kGy, have been investigated by powder electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy from 90 to 294 K. The powder EPR spectra show that the surface Fe3+ species on the gamma-ray-irradiated quartz differ from its counterpart without irradiation in both the effective g value and the observed line shape, suggesting marked radiation effects. This suggestion is supported by quantitatively determined thermodynamic properties, magnetic susceptibility, relaxation times, and geometrical radius. In particular, the surface Fe3+ species on gamma-ray-irradiated quartz has larger Gibbs and activation energies than its non-irradiated counterpart, suggesting radiation-induced chemical reactions. The shorter phase-memory time (T m) but longer spin–lattice relaxation time (T 1) of the surface Fe3+ species on the gamma-ray-irradiated quartz than that without irradiation indicate stronger dipolar interactions in the former. Moreover, the calculated geometrical radius of the surface Fe3+ species on the gamma-ray-irradiated quartz is three orders of magnitude larger than that of its counterpart on the as-is sample. These results provide new insights into radiation-induced aerosol nucleation, with relevance to atmospheric cloud formation and global climate changes.
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