Laser isotope separation of ¹³C: a comparative study

Abstract

IR laser chemistry of (CF₃Br/Cl₂) mixture and neat CF₂HCl are examined in the context of ¹³C enrichment. Decomposition extent, enrichment factor and energy absorbed are measured for both systems at their respective optimum conditions. A direct comparison is obtained by keeping extraneous factors such as laser, its pulse duration, cell, irradiation geometry etc. the same. The halogen scavenged CF₃Br MPD requires lower fluence compared to neat CF₂HCl irradiation. Overall throughput for a product with 60-65% ¹³C content in a single stage is the same for both systems requiring a similar amount of energy. However, at lower enrichment levels, CF₂HCl MPD is better than (CF₃Br/Cl₂) photolysis in terms of both product yield and energy absorption.