New insights into thermal decomposition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon oxyradicals

Thermal decompositions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) oxyradicals on various surface sites including five-membered ring, free-edge, zigzag, and armchair have been systematically investigated by using ab initio density functional theory B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) basis set. The calculation based on Hückel theory indicates that PAHs (3H-cydopenta[a]anthracene oxyradical) with oxyradicals on a five-membered ring site have high chemical reactivity. The rate coefficients of PAH oxyradical decomposition were evaluated by using Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus theory and solving the master equations in the temperature range of 1500-2500 K and the pressure range of 0.1-10 atm. The kinetic calculations revealed that the rate coefficients of PAH oxyradical decomposition are temperature-, pressure-, and surface site-dependent, and the oxyradical on a five-membered ring is easier to decompose than that on a six-membered ring. Four-membered rings were found in decomposition of the five-membered ring, and a new reaction channel of PAH evolution involving four-membered rings is recommended.