APPLICATION OF THERMAL KINETICS TO SMALL CARBON ION CLUSTERS

Kinetic energy release distributions (KERDS') were obtained experiment ally for unimolecular decomposition of small carbon ion clusters C(n), n = 10-13 and 18, made by dissociative ionization from perchloro con jugated hydrocarbons. A model-free approach due to Klots, based on the application of thermal kinetics to small systems, allowed the extract ion of binding energies for these clusters. The results were found to be in very good agreement with literature values for collisionally act ivated dissociation (CAD) threshold energies. The ion C-11+ demonstrat es a particularly high binding energy in agreement with its magic char acter in C(n)+ mass spectra, while C-13+ has a relatively low binding energy, reflected in its low abundance in such spectra.