Electron scattering experiments with hydrogen fluoride-is it really HF?

It is observed that unusually strong desorption effects and chemical reactivity can produce totally spurious results in experiments using hydrogen fluoride gas. It is shown, for example, in the case of electron energy-loss spectra that completely erroneous results are obtained unless adequate sample inlet conditioning is carried out. Comparison of the present experimental work with some literature examples illustrates the need for extreme …