Thermal electron attachment to nitrous oxide was investigated in the range minus;66 to 215deg;C. The attachment was found to be dissociative in nature with an activation energy of10.4plusmn;0.4kcalsol;mole. The activation energy is thought to arise from electron attachment to molecules thermally excited primarily in the bending mode. In an attempt to explain the activation energy a simple Morse function was employed. Potential energy as a function of internuclear distance for both N2O and N2Ominus;was generated at different N2O bond angles. In this manner a threehyphen;dimensional surface for the reaction,N2Othinsp;lpar;linearrpar;rarr;N2Othinsp;lpar;bentrpar;rarr;plus;eminus;N2plus;Ominus;,was obtained. The potential surface has a minimum at a bond anglesim;160deg;. The electron affinity of N2O is estimated at6.2plusmn;4kcalfrom the calculated N2Ominus;potentialhyphen;energy surface. This is in general agreement with other reported values.
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