The production of methyl viologen radical cation (MV•+) in the radiolysis of aqueous solutions of 0.5 mM
methyl viologen (MV2+) containing formate and tertiary butanol (t-BuOH) was studied using fast electron
(integral yields) and 21 MeV 4He ion beam pulses (track segment yields). The formate concentration was
varied in the range of 10-3−2 M. It was confirmed that MV•+ is formed within microseconds and that it is
stable in the measured time regions if the solution contains neither t-BuOH nor oxygen. Tertiary butanol
radical formed through the scavenging of OH radical or H atom by t-BuOH reacts with MV•+, and this rate
constant was determined as (8 ± 2) × 108 M-1 s-1. The effect of formate concentration on the yield of
methyl viologen radical cation was measured in deaerated or N2O-saturated solutions. The radical yields in
deaerated solutions agreed well with those measured by continuous ion beam radiolysis, which confirmed
that this system can be used as a chemical dosimeter for ion beam pulse radiolysis. The yields of OH radicals
were derived from the yields of G(MV•+) in the presence and the absence of t-BuOH. In the radiolysis with
low linear energy transfer (LET) radiations, the calculated OH radical yields agree well with the values
determined by other OH radical scavengers, formate and formic acid, except at high scavenging capacity. In
4He ion beam radiolysis, the yields have a discrepancy in the measured scavenging capacity range. The sum
of the contributions of eaq
- and H atoms to form MV•+ was also determined. This value was lower than the
yields estimated from other studies with 4He ion beams. Yields are highly dependent on the nature of the
solutes and combination of solutes because of intratrack reactions of the products.
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