Metastable hydronium ions in UV-irradiated ice.

We show that the irradiation of UV light (10−11 eV) onto an ice film produces metastable hydronium (H3O+) ions in the ice at low temperatures (53–140 K). Evidence of the presence of metastable hydronium ions was obtained by experiments involving adsorption of methylamine onto UV-irradiated ice films and hydrogen-deuterium (H/D) isotopic exchange reaction. The methylamine adsorption experiments showed that photogenerated H3O+ species transferred a proton to the methylamine arriving at the ice surface, thus producing the methyl ammonium ion, which was detected by low energy sputtering method. The H3O+ species induced the H/D exchange of water, which was monitored through the detection of water isotopomers on the surface by using the Cs+ reactive ion scattering method. Thermal and temporal stabilities of H3O+ and its proton migration activity were examined. The lifetime of the hydronium ions in the amorphized ice was greater than 1 h at ∼53 K and decreased to ∼5 min at 140 K. Interestingly, a small portion o...