Methane Formation Efficiency on Icy Grains: Role of Adsorption States

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Tsuge, Masashi, Molpeceres, Germán, Aikawa, Yuri, Watanabe, Naoki
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Tsuge, Masashi
Molpeceres, Germán
Aikawa, Yuri
Watanabe, Naoki
author_facet Tsuge, Masashi
Molpeceres, Germán
Aikawa, Yuri
Watanabe, Naoki
contents Methane (CH4) is one of the major components of the icy mantle of cosmic dust prevalent in cold, dense regions of interstellar media, playing an important role in the synthesis of complex organic molecules and prebiotic molecules. Solid CH4 is considered to be formed via the successive hydrogenation of C atoms accreting onto dust: C + 4H -> CH4. However, most astrochemical models assume this reaction on the ice mantles of dust to be barrierless and efficient, without considering the states of adsorption. Recently, we found that C atoms exist in either the physisorbed or chemisorbed state on compact amorphous solid water, which is analogous to an interstellar ice mantle. These distinct adsorption states considerably affect the hydrogenation reactivity of the C atom. Herein, we elucidate the reactivities of physisorbed and chemisorbed C atoms with H atoms via sequential deposition and co-deposition processes. The results indicate that only physisorbed C atoms can produce CH4 on ice. Combining this finding with a previous estimate for the fraction of physisorbed C atoms on ice, we determined the upper limit for the conversion of C atoms into CH4 to be 30%.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2407_13057
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Methane Formation Efficiency on Icy Grains: Role of Adsorption States
Tsuge, Masashi
Molpeceres, Germán
Aikawa, Yuri
Watanabe, Naoki
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Methane (CH4) is one of the major components of the icy mantle of cosmic dust prevalent in cold, dense regions of interstellar media, playing an important role in the synthesis of complex organic molecules and prebiotic molecules. Solid CH4 is considered to be formed via the successive hydrogenation of C atoms accreting onto dust: C + 4H -> CH4. However, most astrochemical models assume this reaction on the ice mantles of dust to be barrierless and efficient, without considering the states of adsorption. Recently, we found that C atoms exist in either the physisorbed or chemisorbed state on compact amorphous solid water, which is analogous to an interstellar ice mantle. These distinct adsorption states considerably affect the hydrogenation reactivity of the C atom. Herein, we elucidate the reactivities of physisorbed and chemisorbed C atoms with H atoms via sequential deposition and co-deposition processes. The results indicate that only physisorbed C atoms can produce CH4 on ice. Combining this finding with a previous estimate for the fraction of physisorbed C atoms on ice, we determined the upper limit for the conversion of C atoms into CH4 to be 30%.
title Methane Formation Efficiency on Icy Grains: Role of Adsorption States
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.13057