Evidence for weakly bound electrons in non-irradiated alkane crystals. The electrons as a probe of structural differences in crystals

TL;DR

This study provides evidence of weakly bound electrons in non-irradiated alkane crystals, demonstrating their potential as probes for structural differences in organic solids.

Contribution

It shows that weakly bound electrons exist in non-irradiated alkane crystals and can be used to analyze structural variations, challenging the assumption that such electrons only originate from irradiation.

Findings

Presence of electrons in non-irradiated docosane crystals.

Electrons are trapped in interlamellar gaps or conformer spaces.

Vis absorption spectra reflect structural differences.

Abstract

It is generally assumed that weakly bound (trapped) electrons in organic solids come only from radiolytical (or photochemical) processes like ionization caused by an excited positron entering the sample. This paper presents an evidence for the presence of these electrons in non-irradiated samples of docosane. We argue that these electrons can be located (trapped) either in interlamellar gaps or in spaces made by non-planar conformers. The electrons from the former ones are bound more weakly than those from the latter ones. The origin of Vis absorption for the samples is explained. These spectra can be used as a probe indicating differences in the solid structures of hydrocarbons.