Theoretical and experimental differential cross sections for electron impact excitation of the electronic bands of furfural

We report results from a joint experimental and theoretical investigation into electron scattering from the important industrial species furfural (C5H4O2). Specifically, differential cross sections (DCSs) have been measured and calculated for the electron-impact excitation of the electronic states of C5H4O2. The measurements were carried out at energies in the range 20-40 eV, and for scattered-electron angles between 10° and 90°. The energy resolution of those experiments was typically ∼80 meV. Corresponding Schwinger multichannel method with pseudo-potential calculations, for energies between 6-50 eV and with and without Born-closure, were also performed for a sub-set of the excited electronic-states that were accessed in the measurements. Those calculations were undertaken at the static exchange plus polarisation-level using a minimum orbital basis for single configuration interaction (MOB-SCI) approach. Agreement between the measured and calculated DCSs was qualitatively quite good, although to obtain quantitative accord, the theory would need to incorporate even more channels into the MOB-SCI. The role of multichannel coupling on the computed electronic-state DCSs is also explored in some detail.

Excitation of vibrational quanta in furfural by intermediate-energy electrons

We report cross sections for electron-impact excitation of vibrational quanta in furfural, at intermediate incident electron energies (20, 30, and 40 eV). The present differential cross sections are measured over the scattered electron angular range 10°-90°, with corresponding integral cross sections subsequently being determined. Furfural is a viable plant-derived alternative to petrochemicals, being produced via low-temperature plasma treatment of biomass. Current yields, however, need to be significantly improved, possibly through modelling, with the present cross sections being an important component of such simulations. To the best of our knowledge, there are no other cross sections for vibrational excitation of furfural available in the literature, so the present data are valuable for this important molecule.

Triply differential (e,2e) studies of phenol

We have measured (e,2e) triple differential cross sections (TDCS) for the electron-impact ionisation of phenol with coplanar asymmetrical kinematics for an incident electron energy of 250 eV. Experimental measurements of the angular distribution of the slow outgoing electrons at 20 eV are obtained when the incident electron scatters through angles of -5°, -10°, and -15°, respectively. The TDCS data are compared with calculations performed within the molecular 3-body distorted wave model. In this case, a mixed level of agreement, that was dependent on the kinematical condition being probed, was observed between the theoretical and experimental results in the binary peak region. The experimental intensity of the recoil features under all kinematical conditions was relatively small, but was still largely underestimated by the theoretical calculations.

Integral cross sections for electron impact excitation of vibrational and electronic states in phenol

We report on measurements of integral cross sections (ICSs) for electron impact excitation of a series of composite vibrational modes and electronic-states in phenol, where the energy range of those experiments was 15-250 eV. There are currently no other results against which we can directly compare those measured data. We also report results from our independent atom model with screened additivity rule correction computations, namely, for the inelastic ICS (all discrete electronic states and neutral dissociation) and the total ionisation ICS. In addition, for the relevant dipole-allowed excited electronic states, we also report f-scaled Born-level and energy-corrected and f-scaled Born-level (BEf-scaled) ICS. Where possible, our measured and calculated ICSs are compared against one another with the general level of accord between them being satisfactory to within the measurement uncertainties.

Intermediate energy electron impact excitation of composite vibrational modes in phenol

We report differential cross section results from an experimental investigation into the electron impact excitation of a number of the low-lying composite (unresolved) vibrational modes in phenol (C6H5OH). The measurements were carried out at incident electron energies in the range 15-40 eV and for scattered-electron angles in the range 10-90°. The energy resolution of those measurements was typically ∼80 meV. Calculations, using the GAMESS code, were also undertaken with a B3LYP/aug-cc-pVDZ level model chemistry, in order to enable us to assign vibrational modes to the features observed in our energy loss spectra. To the best of our knowledge, the present cross sections are the first to be reported for vibrational excitation of the C6H5OH molecule by electron impact.