ELECTRON-INDUCED REACTIONS IN METHANOL ULTRATHIN FILMS STUDIED BY TEMPERATURE-PROGRAMMED DESORPTION - A USEFUL METHOD TO STUDY RADIATION-CHEMISTRY

The exposure of multilayers of an adsorbate to low energy (less than o r equal to 55 eV) electrons under ultrahigh vacuum (LTHV) conditions f ollowed by temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) is shown to be an e ffective method to identify radiolysis products. In conjunction with i sothermal experiments, postirradiation TPD experiments were used to id entify eight previously known radiolysis products of methanol. The uti lity of the method is demonstrated by the identification of a previous ly unknown methanol radiolysis product: methoxymethanol (CH3OCH2OH). M oreover, this technique allows study of the dependence on initial elec tron energy, providing additional insight into the physical processes underlying radiation chemistry.