SHOCK-TUBE STUDIES OF SULFUR HEXAFLUORIDE

Shock-tube kinetic studies of SF6 dissociation in argon have been made in the temperature range of 1650°-2050°K at pressures from 0.13-30 atm. Rate constants for the initial fragmentation of SF6 have been determined and have been found to be explainable in terms of classical unimolecular reaction kinetics. The analysis of the data in terms of the RRK theory yielded S=6, λD=0.25, E0=75.92 kcal/mole, and A=1012.95 sec-1 as the best values of the unimolecular parameters. The data did not rule out values of 5 to 7 for 5 or a factor of 2 range in λD with corresponding variations of about 4 kcal/mole in E0 and a factor of 3 in A. E0= 75.92 kcal/mole represents the strength of the first S-F bond. Both ir and uv techniques were used to obtain the data.