Preparation and accurate measurement of pure ozone

Preparation of high purity ozone as well as precise and accurate measurement of its pressure are metrological requirements that are difficult to meet due to ozone decomposition occurring in pressure sensors. The most stable and precise transducer heads are heated and, therefore, prone to accelerated ozone decomposition, limiting measurement accuracy and compromising purity. Here, we describe a vacuum system and a method for ozone production, suitable to accurately determine the pressure of pure ozone by avoiding the problem of decomposition. We use an inert gas in a particularly designed buffer volume and can thus achieve high measurement accuracy and negligible degradation of ozone with purities of 99.8% or better. The high degree of purity is ensured by comprehensive compositional analyses of ozone samples. The method may also be applied to other reactive gases. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3557512]