Photo-induced molecular growth of benzonitrile in the gas phase

• Main Authors: Behera, Nihar Ranjan, Kanakati, Arun Kumar, Thakkar, Pratikkumar, Payra, Siddhartha Sankar, Dutta, Saurav, Barik, Saroj, Lenka, Yash, Aravind, G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 13-09-2024
• Subjects: Physics - Chemical Physics
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2409.08590

Due to the absorption of high energetic ultraviolet (UV) photons by the
surface layers of the cold molecular clouds, only low energetic photons are
able to penetrate into the inner regions of these clouds. This leads to lower
photo-ionization yield of molecules of higher ionization potential in these
environments. However, here we have experimentally shown the ionization of
Benzonitrile molecule using 266nm (4.66eV) photons. The low intensity and
unfocused laser irradiation of benzonitrile molecules results extensive
fragmentation. Moreover, the ion-neutral reactions among the cationic fragments
and neutral fragments shows promising molecular mass growth.