Reactivity of Nitrogen, Oxgen, and Halogenated Gases with Molten Lithium Metal.

The thesis deals with the reaction characteristics of a static molten lithium metal surface during the first few seconds after exposure to a reactant gas. Experimentally, the reaction rates of nitrogen, oxygen, and three halogenated gases CCl2F2, C4F8, SF6 were obtained by heating a small sample of lithium in a vacuum with a high frequency inductive heating coil, then rapidly exposing the hot metal surface to a known volume of reactant gas. Gas pressure decay and metal temperature were monitored by rapid response recording instrumentation. The dependence of gas-metal interaction rate upon reactant gas pressure and metal temperature was determined from measured data. Experimental and theoretical comparisons were made leading to an analytical description of the interaction kinetics in terms of the functional variables of pressure and temperature. Author Modified Abstract