摘要：SummaryPoly-α-methylstyrene (PAMS) is considered as the preferred mandrel material, whose degradation is crucial for the fabrication of high-quality inertial confinement fusion (ICF) targets. Herein, we reveal that hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) during PAMS degradation, which is usually attributed to the thermal effect, unexpectedly exhibits a strong high-temperature tunneling effect. Specifically, although the energy barrier of the HAT reaction is only 10−2magnitude different from depolymerization, the tunneling probability of the former can be 14–32 orders of magnitude greater than that of the latter. Furthermore, chain scission following HAT will lead to a variety of products other than monomers. Our work highlights that quantum tunneling may be an important source of uncertainty in PAMS degradation, which will provide a direction for the further development of key technology of target fabricating in ICF research and even the solution of plastic pollution.Graphical abstractDisplay OmittedHighlights•Tunneling of hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) brings uncertainty to mandrel degradation•Lower energy barrier and stronger tunneling make active-end HAT occur more easily•Chain scission following HAT leads to a variety of products other than monomersTheoretical physics; Quantum physics; Nanotechnology fabrication
