Ab initio molecular dynamics calculations on electron ionization induced fragmentations of C4F7N and C5F10O for understanding their decompositions under discharge conditions

Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2023 Mar 8;25(10):7540-7549. doi: 10.1039/d2cp03498k.

Abstract

C4F7N and C5F10O are the most promising SF6 alternatives as eco-friendly insulating gaseous mediums in electrical engineering. It is necessary to clarify their electrical stability and decomposition mechanisms. In this work, we first introduced our experimental results for decomposition products of C4F7N/CO2 and C5F10O/synthetic air mixtures under partial discharge and spark discharge conditions. Then, we performed ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations on the typical decomposition products. The simulations were performed under standard electron impact mass spectrometry (EI-MS); thus, the statistical results of the mass spectra were compared with those of the experimentally obtained standard mass spectra from the NIST database. The AIMD simulation method in simulating the electron-induced ionization process was verified and found to be reliable. Finally, the calculations were also performed for C4F7N and C5F10O with incident electron energies of 20 eV and 70 eV, respectively. The dominant pathway for both gases is the formation of CF3+ with the fracture of the C-C bond. The AIMD simulation is able to predict the decomposition channels after electron-impact ionization without any preconceived knowledge of fragmentation pathways, which provides a novel insight into understanding the decomposition mechanisms of C4F7N and C5F10O under different discharge conditions with different energies.