IR Spectroscopic Study of H₂O₂, HDO₂, and D₂O₂ Isolated in Ar, Kr, and Xe Matrices

Abstract

The vibrational spectrum of hydrogen peroxide, released from an urea hydrogen peroxide adduct compound, is studied in Ar, Kr, and Xe matrices. The gaseous products of the thermal decomposition of urea hydrogen peroxide in an argon atmosphere are determined using a low-resolution fast scanning FTIR−gas analyzer. Upon the solid sample being warmed to temperatures of ∼90 °C, only hydrogen peroxide is detected, and above that, NH3 and HNCO are evolved due to the decomposition of urea. The hydrogen peroxide−rare gas matrices are prepared from urea hydrogen peroxide by sweeping Ar, Kr, or Xe gas over the solid sample kept at a suitable temperature. The ratio between trapped monomer and multimers can be controlled by varying the amount and the temperature of the sample and the gas flow rate. The results show that urea hydrogen peroxide is a convenient source of pure hydrogen peroxide for spectroscopic studies. The IR spectra of H2O2, HDO2, and D2O2 in argon matrices are presented and compared with previous results. The krypton and xenon spectra are presented for the first time. Many of the peaks show a well-resolved doublet structure.

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