Dissociative Excitation of Nitromethane Induced by Electron Impact in the Ultraviolet-Visible Spectrum

Abstract

The excitation of nitromethane CH$_3$NO$_2$, which is an important propellant and prototypic molecule for large class of explosives, has been investigated by electron impact and subsequent emission of photons in the UV-VIS spectral region between 300 nm and 670 nm. Emission spectrum of nitromethane was recorded at an electron energy of 50 eV. New dissociative excitation channels were discovered through the appearance of different CH, CN, NH, OH and NO bands, and the Balmer series of atomic hydrogen. In addition, relative emission cross sections were recorded for the transitions of selected fragments. The emission spectrum was captured at significantly higher resolution in comparison to previous studies.