Inelastic and Reactive Scattering Dynamics of Hyperthermal Oxygen Atoms on Ionic Liquid Surfaces: [emim][NTf2]and [C12mim][NTf2]

Collisions of hyperthermal oxygen atoms, with an average translational energy of 520 kJ mol−1, on continuously refreshed ionic liquids, 1‐ethyl‐3‐methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide ([emim][NTf2]) and 1‐dodecyl‐3‐methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide ([C12mim][NTf2]), were studied with the use of a beam‐surface scattering technique. Time‐of‐flight and angular distributions of inelastically scattered O and reactively scattered OH and H2O were collected for various angles of incidence with the use of a rotatable mass spectrometer detector. For both O and OH, two distinct scattering processes were identified, which can be empirically categorized as thermal and non‐thermal. Non‐thermal scattering is more probable for both O and OH products. The observation of OH confirms that at least some reactive sites, presumably alkyl groups, must be exposed at the surface. The ionic liquid with the longer alkyl chain, [C12mim][NTf2], is substantially more reactive than the liquid with the ...