Unraveling the Interface Chemistry between HCN and Cosmic Silicates by the Interplay of Infrared Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Modeling

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Main Authors: Bancone, Niccolò, Santalucia, Rosangela, Pantaleone, Stefano, Ugliengo, Piero, Mino, Lorenzo, Rimola, Albert, Corno, Marta
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Bancone, Niccolò
Santalucia, Rosangela
Pantaleone, Stefano
Ugliengo, Piero
Mino, Lorenzo
Rimola, Albert
Corno, Marta
author_facet Bancone, Niccolò
Santalucia, Rosangela
Pantaleone, Stefano
Ugliengo, Piero
Mino, Lorenzo
Rimola, Albert
Corno, Marta
contents Understanding the interaction between hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and silicate surfaces is crucial for elucidating the prebiotic processes occurring on interstellar grain cores, as well as in cometary and meteoritic matrices. In this study, we characterized the adsorption features of HCN on crystalline forsterite (Mg2SiO4) surfaces, one of the most abundant cosmic silicates, by combining experimental infrared spectra at low temperatures (100-150 K) with periodic DFT simulations. Results showed the coexistence of both molecular and dissociative HCN adsorption complexes as a function of the considered forsterite crystalline face. Molecular adsorptions dominate on the most stable surfaces, while dissociative adsorptions occur predominantly on surfaces of lower stability, catalyzed by the enhanced Lewis acid-base behavior of surface-exposed Mg2+-O2- ion pairs. On the whole set of adsorption cases, harmonic frequency calculations were carried out and compared with the experimental infrared bands. To disentangle each vibrational mode contributing to the experimental broad bands, we run a best non-linear fit between the predicted set of frequencies and the experimental bands. The outcome of this procedure allowed us to: i) deconvolute the experimental IR spectrum by assigning computed normal modes of vibrations to the main features of each band; ii) reveal which crystal faces are responsible of the largest contribution to the adsorbate vibrational bands, giving information about the morphology of the samples. The present straigthforward procedure is quite general and of broad interest in the fine characterization of the infrared spectra of adsorbates on complex inorganic material surfaces.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_08074
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Unraveling the Interface Chemistry between HCN and Cosmic Silicates by the Interplay of Infrared Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Modeling
Bancone, Niccolò
Santalucia, Rosangela
Pantaleone, Stefano
Ugliengo, Piero
Mino, Lorenzo
Rimola, Albert
Corno, Marta
Materials Science
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Understanding the interaction between hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and silicate surfaces is crucial for elucidating the prebiotic processes occurring on interstellar grain cores, as well as in cometary and meteoritic matrices. In this study, we characterized the adsorption features of HCN on crystalline forsterite (Mg2SiO4) surfaces, one of the most abundant cosmic silicates, by combining experimental infrared spectra at low temperatures (100-150 K) with periodic DFT simulations. Results showed the coexistence of both molecular and dissociative HCN adsorption complexes as a function of the considered forsterite crystalline face. Molecular adsorptions dominate on the most stable surfaces, while dissociative adsorptions occur predominantly on surfaces of lower stability, catalyzed by the enhanced Lewis acid-base behavior of surface-exposed Mg2+-O2- ion pairs. On the whole set of adsorption cases, harmonic frequency calculations were carried out and compared with the experimental infrared bands. To disentangle each vibrational mode contributing to the experimental broad bands, we run a best non-linear fit between the predicted set of frequencies and the experimental bands. The outcome of this procedure allowed us to: i) deconvolute the experimental IR spectrum by assigning computed normal modes of vibrations to the main features of each band; ii) reveal which crystal faces are responsible of the largest contribution to the adsorbate vibrational bands, giving information about the morphology of the samples. The present straigthforward procedure is quite general and of broad interest in the fine characterization of the infrared spectra of adsorbates on complex inorganic material surfaces.
title Unraveling the Interface Chemistry between HCN and Cosmic Silicates by the Interplay of Infrared Spectroscopy and Quantum Chemical Modeling
topic Materials Science
Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.08074