Design of an optical cell for pulse radiolysis of supercritical water

The design of a flow cell that is applicable to pulse radiolysis/transient absorption experiments on supercritical water is described. The cell is designed to minimize dead volume and prevent the accumulation of radiolytic products. It is also necessary to minimize emission and absorption of sapphire windows from high energy electron beam irradiation. To obtain an optical throughput of $\text{f/4,}$ the inner diameter is 6 mm, and distance between windows is 25 mm. The effective optical path length is 20 mm for irradiation from the side through a thin Hastelloy wall. Belleville spring washers were used to keep a constant force on the 3 mm sapphire windows, which were sealed to the Hastelloy body with copper gaskets. An application of this cell to measurements of solvated electrons in supercritical water is demonstrated.