Luminescence of OD radical as an evidence for water decomposition under destruction of the deuterated terbium sulfate crystal hydrate

The triboluminescence of Tb2(SO4)3·8H2O crystals in which water was replaced by heavy water has been studied for the first time. An increase in triboluminescence intensity of Tb2(SO4)3·nD2O (n≈8) crystals corresponds to the change in quantum yield of Tb3+ ions. The replacement of the crystallized H2O by D2O causes the appearance of characteristic lines of OD radicals instead of OH ones in the UV region of the spectrum. The decomposition of the crystallized water, in this regard, was confirmed.