Physical aspects of radiation-induced processes on SiO2, γ-Al2O3, zeolites, and clays

This review covers the influence of the surfaces, SiO2, γ-Al2O3, zeolites, and clays, on selected physical and chemical events on these surfaces. On one hand, the surfaces enrich the chemistry of the molecular systems. On the other hand, a comparison of the chemistry of systems on a surface to that in the well-established area of solution or gas phase chemistry provides new insights of the surfaces themselves. Ionic reactions are a minor component of excitation of silica, but are prominent on γ-aluminia, zeolites, and clays. This is consistent with the amorphous nature of SiO2 and the ionic nature of the other materials. With zeolites, the small internal dimensions play a major role in size selection of radiation-induced reactions. γ-Aluminia and zeolites contain various reactive centers.