Real-time analysis of hns detonation products: Carbon clusters

Abstract We have determined the mass spectrum and the time evolution of the freely expanding products of HNS detonation. The products arriving at the detector earliest have velocities of 8 km s−1; except for hydrogen, this is characteristic of all of the products irrespective of mass. The spectrum is dominated in intensity by products at mass 28, which we ascribe as composed of 80% CO and 20% N2. These account for nearly half the total products. The remaining products are spread over many mass peaks from mass 12 to mass 60, the most important being H2, N2O, CO2 and carbon clusters. We observe carbon in clusters, Cn, with 1 ≤ n ≤ 5 in a distribution that decreases monotonically with n. Carbon cluster distributions are also obtained under conditions of partial confinement by solid Xe at 30 K and the distributions are found to be relatively unchanged. We compare our mass spectrum with those obtained under conditions closer to equilibrium and to earlier measurements of the same kind with PETN.