Temperature dependence of the reaction O/3P/ + OH/2 Pi/ yields O2 + H

Measurements of the absolute rate and temperature dependence of the rate constant for the reaction of ground state atomic oxygen with hydroxyl radicals to yield molecular oxygen and hydrogen atoms over the temperature range 211-499 K are presented. The reaction was monitored in a low-pressure discharge flow resonance fluorescence apparatus under pseudo-first-order conditions in which the oxygen concentration was greater than the hydroxyl concentration. An expression for the temperature dependence of the rate constant is derived from a least-squares fit to the observed bimolecular rate constants, which were found to range from 3.21 to 2.77 x 10 to the -11th cu cm/molecule per sec for temperatures from 211 to 499 K, indicative of a slight negative temperature dependence. Results are compared with those of previous workers, and the significance of the lower value of the rate constant obtained in the present study to models of HO(x) in the upper stratosphere is indicated.