Description:
<jats:p>As a means of studying the kinetics of rapid reactions in which a gas is evolved, a constant volume reactor has been designed. This reactor employs a static technique in which the reaction is followed by the increase in pressure as the gas is evolved. The apparatus is capable of contacting 1 ml of one reactant with 25 ml of a second reactant and obtaining effective mixing in less than 10 milliseconds.</jats:p>
<jats:p>The pressure-sensitive device is a strain gauge, the output of which is plotted as a function of time by a cathode-ray oscilloscope. The apparatus was tested for complete mixing and desaturation of the gas from the liquid phase by means of a reaction known to be very fast. The reaction chosen was the homogeneous reaction between the permanganate ion and hydrogen peroxide in acid solution.</jats:p>
<jats:p>The reaction between lithium borohydride and sulfuric acid was found to have a half-time of approximately one second. The half-time of the reaction between sodium-potassium alloy and ethanol was only a few milliseconds. The reactions of aluminum borohydride and ethylaluminum sesquihydride with water and with acids also were studied.</jats:p>