International audienceExperimental and theoretical developments in the field of dissociative recombination research over the last 15 years are reviewed. Rate coefficients and branching ratios for final channels of the reaction are tabulated

The size distribution of soot nanoparticles in an ethylene flame has been mapped in an in situ small angle x-ray scattering measurement at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. It has been seen that an abrupt size distribution change occurs at about a third of the flame’s visible height and this is believed to be due to the oxidation and dehydrogenation of the particles.

A storage ring measurement of the rate coefficient for the production of neutral Ar in e + ArH+ collisions is described. It is found that the recombination rate is too small to measure at low centre-of-mass energies but the combined rate coefficient for dissociative recombination and dissociative excitation increases above 2.5 eV displaying peaks centred at 7.5 eV, 16 and 26 eV. Calculated potential energy curves for the ground and excited states of ArH+ are presented and these aid in the elucidation of the recombination and excitation processes observed at higher energies. The implications for plasma modelling are discussed.