Ab initio molecular dynamics calculations on electron ionization induced fragmentations of C 4 F 7 N and C 5 F 10 O for understanding their decompositions under discharge conditions.

C ₄ F ₇ N and C ₅ F ₁₀ O are the most promising SF ₆ 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 C ₄ F ₇ N/CO ₂ and C ₅ F ₁₀ O/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 C ₄ F ₇ N and C ₅ F ₁₀ O with incident electron energies of 20 eV and 70 eV, respectively. The dominant pathway for both gases is the formation of CF ₃ ⁺ 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 C ₄ F ₇ N and C ₅ F ₁₀ O under different discharge conditions with different energies.