Abstract
Here we report on a study of the non-radiative relaxation dynamic of (12)CH(4) and (13)CH(4) in wet nitrogen-based matrixes by using the quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) technique. The dependence of the QEPAS signal on pressure at fixed matrix composition and on H(2)O concentration at fixed pressure was investigated. We demonstrated that QEPAS measurements can be used to retrieve both the effective relaxation rate in the matrix, and the V-T relaxation rate associated to collisions with nitrogen and water vapor. No significant differences in measured relaxation rates were observed between the two isotopologues.