Use of Corona Discharges for the Study of Ion—Molecule Reactions

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Abstract
Low‐pressure positive corona discharges have been developed for studies of ion—molecule reactions at pressures which exceed those used in conventional high‐pressure mass spectrometry by several orders of magnitude. The reactions occurring within the discharge are studied by means of a mass spectrometer, sampling the ionic species which arrive at the cathode. Studies made in a system of nitrogen and trace quantities of either water vapor or oxygen have shown the importance of both ion—molecule reactions and charge‐exchange processes which occur in atomspheric gases. The cross sections for a number of these processes with ions of near thermal energies have been measured.