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Fritsch B, Körner A, Couasnon T, Blukis R, Taherkhani M, Benning LG, Jank MPM, Spiecker E, Hutzler A. Tailoring the Acidity of Liquid Media with Ionizing Radiation: Rethinking the Acid-Base Correlation beyond pH. J Phys Chem Lett 2023; 14:4644-4651. [PMID: 37167107 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.3c00593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Advanced in situ techniques based on electrons and X-rays are increasingly used to gain insights into fundamental processes in liquids. However, probing liquid samples with ionizing radiation changes the solution chemistry under observation. In this work, we show that a radiation-induced decrease in pH does not necessarily correlate to an increase in acidity of aqueous solutions. Thus, pH does not capture the acidity under irradiation. Using kinetic modeling of radiation chemistry, we introduce alternative measures of acidity (radiolytic acidity π* and radiolytic ion product KW*), that account for radiation-induced alterations of both H+ and OH- concentration. Moreover, we demonstrate that adding pH-neutral solutes such as LiCl, LiBr, or LiNO3 can trigger a significant change in π*. This provides a huge parameter space to tailor the acidity for in situ experiments involving ionizing radiation, as present in synchrotron facilities or during liquid-phase electron microscopy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Birk Fritsch
- Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (IEK-11), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Cauerstraße 1, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
- Department of Electrical, Electronic and Communication Engineering, Electron Devices (LEB), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Cauerstraße 6, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute of Micro- and Nanostructure Research (IMN) and Center for Nanoanalysis and Electron Microscopy (CENEM), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Cauerstraße 3, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Andreas Körner
- Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (IEK-11), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Cauerstraße 1, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Thaïs Couasnon
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ), Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Roberts Blukis
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ), Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Mehran Taherkhani
- Department of Electrical, Electronic and Communication Engineering, Electron Devices (LEB), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Cauerstraße 6, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Liane G Benning
- Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ), Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
- Department of Earth Sciences, Free University of Berlin, 12249 Berlin, Germany
| | - Michael P M Jank
- Department of Electrical, Electronic and Communication Engineering, Electron Devices (LEB), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Cauerstraße 6, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
- Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology IISB, Schottkystraße 10, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Erdmann Spiecker
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute of Micro- and Nanostructure Research (IMN) and Center for Nanoanalysis and Electron Microscopy (CENEM), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Cauerstraße 3, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
| | - Andreas Hutzler
- Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (IEK-11), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Cauerstraße 1, 91058 Erlangen, Germany
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