Irradiation of controlled pore glasses with 10 MeV electrons

Controlled Pore Glasses (8-300 nm pore diameter) have been irradiated with 10 MeV electrons. H-2 production in dried or hydrated glasses was measured as a function of the pore size: it increases when. the pore size decreases. In the case of hydrated glasses, the hydrogen peroxide formation has been observed too. EPR measurements clearly show that the number of defects created under irradiation is significantly smaller in the presence of water, which indicates that water protects the glasses from paramagnetic centers formation. Last, FT-IR spectra have been recorded before and after irradiation: for hydrated glasses, irradiation leads to a strong dehydration of the system.