193 nm photodissociation of H2S: The SH internal energy distribution

New accurate diabatic potential energy surfaces for the two lowest 1A'' states of H2S and photodissociation dynamics in its first absorption band

In this work, state-to-state photodissociation dynamics of H2S in its first absorption band has been studied quantum mechanically with a new set of coupled potential energy surfaces (PESs) for the first two 1A'' excited states, which were developed at the explicitly correlated internally contracted multi-reference configuration interaction level with the cc-pVQZ-F12 basis set and a large active space. The calculated absorption spectrum, product state distributions, and angular distributions are in excellent agreement with available experimental data, validating the accuracy of the PESs and the non-adiabatic couplings. Detailed analysis of the dynamics reveals that there are strong non-adiabatic couplings between the bound 11B1 and dissociative 11A2 states around the Franck-Condon region, leading to very fast predissociation to ro-vibrationally cold SH(X̃) fragments, during which marginal angular anisotropy of the PESs is involved. This study provides quantitatively accurate characterization of the electronic structure and detailed fragmentation dynamics of this prototypical photodissociation system, which is desirable for improving astrochemical modelling.

Photodissociation of H2S: A New Pathway for the Production of Vibrationally Excited Molecular Hydrogen in the Interstellar Medium

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is the most abundant S-bearing molecule in the solar nebula. Although its photochemistry has been studied for decades, the H₂ fragment channel is still not well-understood. Herein, we describe the photodissociation dynamics of H₂S + hv → S(¹S) + H₂(X¹Σ_g⁺) with the excitation wavelength of 122 nm ≤ λ ≤ 136 nm. The results reveal that the H₂(X) fragments formed are significantly vibrationally excited, with the quantum yields of ∼87% of H₂(X) fragments populated in vibrational levels v″ = 3, 4, 5, and 6. Theoretical analysis suggest that these H₂ products are formed on the H₂S 4¹A' state surface following a nonadiabatic transition via an avoided crossing from the 3¹A' to 4¹A' state. The estimated quantum yield of the S(¹S) + H₂ channel is ∼0.05, implying this channel should be incorporated into the appropriate interstellar chemistry models.

Specific H2S Release from Thiosulfate Promoted by UV Irradiation for Removal of Arsenic and Heavy Metals from Strongly Acidic Wastewater

The removal of arsenic and heavy metals (HMs) from strongly acidic wastewater by hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is an efficient method. However, traditional sulfuration reagents (Na₂S, FeS, CaS, etc.) rapidly release H₂S under acidic conditions via spontaneous hydrolysis, leading to serious H₂S pollution. Herein, a H₂S release process employing thiosulfate as a sulfuration reagent was proposed to eliminate H₂S pollution. We found that thiosulfate can release H₂S with specificity both in the dark and under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation under acidic conditions. In the absence of arsenic/HMs, H₂S is not released because the formed H₂S is consumed by a thiosulfate decomposition product, sulfite, or by its photolysis. In the presence of arsenic/HMs, H₂S is released because the formed H₂S immediately reacts with arsenic/HMs to generate sulfide precipitates rather than being consumed. The efficiency of transforming thiosulfate to H₂S under UV irradiation is 2.5-fold the efficiency in the dark, because UV irradiation promotes the transformation of "effective sulfur" in thiosulfate molecules to form H₂S through the transformation of HS· and S₂O₃^• - radicals. Moreover, more than 99.9% of arsenic/HMs were removed from strongly acidic wastewater without producing H₂S pollution under UV irradiation. This thiosulfate-based H₂S-specific release process solves the problem of H₂S pollution under acidic conditions.

UV-Light-Induced Aggregation of Arsenic and Metal Sulfide Particles in Acidic Wastewater: The Role of Free Radicals

The removal of arsenic and metals by sulfide (S(-II)) from acidic wastewater is an efficient method. However, the small sulfide particles formed in such a process make solid-liquid separation difficult, which greatly hinders its application. This study investigated the aggregation behavior of different sulfide particles (As₂S₃, CuS and CdS) under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. In the dark, the aggregation rate of the arsenic sulfide (As₂S₃) particles was extremely slow. However, under UV irradiation, the growth of the As₂S₃ particles was significantly enhanced. A possible mechanism of UV-light-induced aggregation of As₂S₃ particles was proposed. The HS· and ·OH radicals formed by a series of photochemical reactions can efficiently attack the S(-II) in the As₂S₃ particle, leading to the formation of an intermediate species, [As₂S₂-S·]⁺. Then, two [As₂S₂-S·]⁺ species combine to form [As₂S₂-S-S-S₂As₂]²⁺. The formation of [As₂S₂-S-S-S₂As₂]²⁺ results in the attenuation of the electronegativity and the rapid aggregation of the sulfide particles. In addition, the small S⁰ particles generated in irradiated As₂S₃ system can efficiently coalesce into As₂S₃ particles. The CuS and CdS particles should have similar aggregation mechanisms. This study proposed a potential method for sulfide particle aggregation and provided a theoretical foundation for the development and application of UV-light-induced sulfide particle aggregation technology.

Mechanisms of UV-Light Promoted Removal of As(V) by Sulfide from Strongly Acidic Wastewater

Strongly acidic wastewater with a high arsenic concentration is produced by a number of industries. The removal of As(V) (H₃AsO₄) by sulfide from strongly acidic wastewater remains a difficult issue. This study proposed a UV-assisted method to efficiently remove As(V) by sulfide, and the involved mechanisms were systematically investigated. In the dark, the low removal efficiency of As(V) by sulfide was attributed to the slow formation and transformation of an intermediate species, i.e., monothioarsenate (H₃AsO₃S), in the As(V) sulfuration reaction, which were the rate-controlling steps in this process. However, UV irradiation significantly promoted the removal efficiency of As(V) not only by promoting the formation of H₃AsO₃S through light-induced HS^• and •H radicals but also by enhancing the transformation of H₃AsO₃S through a charge-transfer process between S(-II) and As(V) in the H₃AsO₃S complex, leading to the reduction of As(V) to As(III) and the oxidation of S(-II) to S(0). The formed As(III) species immediately precipitated as As₂S₃ under excess S(-II). Kinetic modeling offered a quantitative explanation of the results and verified the proposed mechanisms. This study provides a theoretical foundation for the application of light-promoted As(V) sulfuration removal, which may facilitate the recycling and reuse of arsenic and acid in strongly acidic wastewater.

Gas-Phase Photochemical Overall H2 S Splitting by UV Light Irradiation

Splitting of hydrogen sulfide is achieved to produce value-added chemicals. Upon irradiation at 254 nm in the gas phase and in the absence of catalysts or photocatalysts at near room temperature, H₂ S splits into stoichiometric amounts of H₂ and S with a quantum efficiency close to 50 %. No influence of the presence of CH₄ and CO₂ (typical components in natural gas and biogas in which H₂ S is an unwanted component) on the efficiency of overall H₂ S splitting was observed. A mechanism for the H₂ and S formation is proposed.

Sulfur atom exchange in the reaction of SH radicals with S atoms

The structural and energetic properties of the HSS-->SSH transition state are examined using the single and double coupled-cluster method. The energy change for the isomerization reaction is estimated to be 31.7+/-1 kcal mol(-1). The results suggest that the reaction between SH radicals and S atoms should isotopically exchange because the isomerization barrier is significantly less than the S-S bond dissociation energy in the HSS radical.

Experimental and theoretical study of the photodissociation reaction of thiophenol at 243nm: Intramolecular orbital alignment of the phenylthiyl radical

The photoinduced hydrogen (or deuterium) detachment reaction of thiophenol (C(6)H(5)SH) or thiophenol-d(1) (C(6)H(5)SD) pumped at 243 nm has been investigated using the H (D) ion velocity map imaging technique. Photodissociation products, corresponding to the two distinct and anisotropic rings observed in the H (or D) ion images, are identified as the two lowest electronic states of phenylthiyl radical (C(6)H(5)S). Ab initio calculations show that the singly occupied molecular orbital of the phenylthiyl radical is localized on the sulfur atom and it is oriented either perpendicular or parallel to the molecular plane for the ground (B(1)) and the first excited state (B(2)) species, respectively. The experimental energy separation between these two states is 2600+/-200 cm(-1) in excellent agreement with the authors' theoretical prediction of 2674 cm(-1) at the CASPT2 level. The experimental anisotropy parameter (beta) of -1.0+/-0.05 at the large translational energy of D from the C(6)H(5)SD dissociation indicates that the transition dipole moment associated with this optical transition at 243 nm is perpendicular to the dissociating S-D bond, which in turn suggests an ultrafast D+C(6)H(5)S(B(1)) dissociation channel on a repulsive potential energy surface. The reduced anisotropy parameter of -0.76+/-0.04 observed at the smaller translational energy of D suggests that the D+C(6)H(5)S(B(2)) channel may proceed on adiabatic reaction paths resulting from the coupling of the initially excited state to other low-lying electronic states encountered along the reaction coordinate. Detailed high level ab initio calculations adopting multireference wave functions reveal that the C(6)H(5)S(B(1)) channel may be directly accessed via a (1)(n(pi),sigma(*)) photoexcitation at 243 nm while the key feature of the photodissociation dynamics of the C(6)H(5)S(B(2)) channel is the involvement of the (3)(n(pi),pi(*))-->(3)(n(sigma),sigma(*)) profile as well as the spin-orbit induced avoided crossing between the ground and the (3)(n(pi),sigma(*)) state. The S-D bond dissociation energy of thiophenol-d(1) is accurately estimated to be D(0)=79.6+/-0.3 kcalmol. The S-H bond dissociation energy is also estimated to give D(0)=76.8+/-0.3 kcalmol, which is smaller than previously reported ones by at least 2 kcalmol. The C-H bond of the benzene moiety is found to give rise to the H fragment. Ring opening reactions induced by the pi-pi(*)n(pi)-pi(*) transitions followed by internal conversion may be responsible for the isotropic broad translational energy distribution of fragments.