Radiolysis and photolysis of sodium sulfate crystalline hydrate

Abstract

The thermal treatment of sodium sulfate was found to affect its optical and luminescent properties when activated with trivalent rare-earth ions. The influence of crystal water molecules on radiation processes in sodium sulfate was studied. The interactions of atomic hydrogen with ions and radicals were calculated by the semiempirical MNDO quantum-chemical method. The hydrogen atom was found to form stable complexes with all ions and radicals. The ions and radicals of the sulfate subsystem play the role of traps for hydrogen atoms and escape recombination, giving rise to recombination luminescence at 150 K during UV excitation of the crystalline hydrate.