Experimental study of the rate of OH + HO2 --> H2O + O2 at high temperatures using the reverse reaction

The rate constant of the reaction OH + HO(2) --> H(2)O + O(2) (1) can be inferred at high temperatures from measurements of the rate of its reverse reaction H(2)O + O(2) --> OH + HO(2) (-1). In this work, we used laser absorption of both H(2)O and OH to study the reverse reaction in shock-heated H(2)O/O(2)/Ar mixtures over the temperature range 1600-2200 K. Initial H(2)O concentrations were determined using tunable diode laser absorption near 2.5 microm, and OH concentration time-histories were measured using UV ring dye laser absorption near 306.7 nm. Detailed kinetic analysis of the OH time-history profiles yielded a value for the rate constant k(1) of (3.3 +/- 0.9) x 10(13) [cm(3) mol(-1) s(-1)] between 1600 and 2200 K. The results of this study agree well with those reported by Srinivasan et al. (Srinivasan, N.K.; Su, M.-C.; Sutherland, J.W.; Michael, J.V.; Ruscic, B. J. Phys. Chem. A 2006, 110, 6602-6607) in the temperature regime between 1200 and 1700 K. The combination of the two studies suggests only a weak temperature dependence of k(1) above 1200 K. Data from the current study and that of Keyser (Keyser, L.F. J. Phys. Chem. 1988, 92, 1193-1200) at lower temperatures can be described by the k(1) expression proposed by Baulch et al. (Baulch, D.L.; Cobos, C.J.; Cox, R.A.; Esser, C.; Frank, P.; Just, Th.; Kerr, J.A.; Pilling, M.J.; Troe, J.; Walker, R.W.; Warnatz, J. J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data 1992, 21, 411), k(1) = 2.89 x 10(13) exp(252/T) [cm(3) mol(-1) s(-1)]. However, it should be noted that some previous studies suggest a k(1) minimum around 1250 K (Hippler, H.; Neunaber, H.; Troe, J. J. Chem. Phys. 1995, 103, 3510-3516) or 1000 K (Kappel, C.; Luther, K.; Troe, J. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2002, 4, 4392-4398).