Positron Annihilation Studies of Mesoporous Silica MCM-41

Positron annihilation has been used to study the mesoporous silica MCM-41. Lifetime spectra of evacuated MCM-41 indicate a significant contribution from 3γ annihilation events with τ4 116 ns and I4 24.5 %. This is supported by measurements of the full energy distribution, where MCM-41 shows enhanced counts in the low energy region (below 511 keV) relative to a pure 2γ sample. MCM-41 was also studied under air and oxygen atmospheres. The presence of atmosphere has a significant effect on both the lifetime and Doppler patterns, with both the lifetime data (τ4 and I4) and the 3γ-fraction decreasing with increasing oxygen concentration. This is indicative of paramagnetic quenching of o-Ps by oxygen.