The
photochemistry of deuterated biacetyl adsorbed onto alkali halide films was the
focus of this research. Biacetyl was
deuterated and adsorbed onto films of KCl, NaBr, NaCl, and KBr at low pressures
and temperatures. The adsorbed
deuterated biacetyl was then irradiated for one-hour increments at temperatures
of 13 K, 50 K, and 100 K. Fourier
Transform Infrared spectra were taken after every photolysis, and in between
photolyzing the sample at increasing temperatures of 5 K at a
time. This was done to demonstrate the
effect that increasing temperature has on the deuterated biacetyl and its
photoproducts. Analysis of the spectra
indicate the formation of carbon monoxide, ketene, and deuterated methane,
although all of these photoproducts were not observed for every salt film. The number of photoproducts produced on a
salt film is much lower than studies done in a matrix, in a gas phase, and on
silver/quartz surfaces.