FORMATION OF FORMALDEHYDE AND CARBON DIOXIDE ON AN ICY GRAIN ANALOG USING FAST HYDROGEN ATOMS

Journal Article · Wed May 20 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/697/1/801; COUNTRY OF INPUT: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA)· OSTI ID:21300531

Madzunkov, S M; MacAskill, J A; Chutjian, A; Darrach, M R ^[1]; Ehrenfreund, P ^[2]; Vidali, G ^[3]; Shortt, B J ^[4]

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1. Atomic and Molecular Physics Group, Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States)
2. Leiden Institute of Chemistry, 2300 RA Leiden (Netherlands)
3. Physics Department, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244 (United States)
4. EADS Astrium Ltd., Hertfordshire SG1 2AS (United Kingdom)

Formaldehyde (H{sub 2}CO) and carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) were produced in collisions of a superthermal, 3 eV beam of H({sup 2}S) atoms with CO molecules adsorbed on a gold surface at 4.8 K. The reaction-generated products were detected and analyzed using the techniques of temperature programmed desorption (TPD), quadrupole mass spectrometry, and a novel application of the Metropolis algorithm, random-walk procedure to identify the unique fractionation patterns of H{sub 2}CO and CO{sub 2} from the patterns of other species such as N{sub 2}, CO, and H{sub 2}O embedded in the CO blanket and devolved in the TPD/mass spectrometry process. Reaction sequences are given to account for the formation of H{sub 2}CO and CO{sub 2}.

• OSTI ID: 21300531
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 697, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/697/1/801; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
ALGORITHMS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON MONOXIDE
DESORPTION
FORMALDEHYDE
FRACTIONATION
GOLD
GRAPH THEORY
HYDROGEN
INTERSTELLAR GRAINS
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
MATTER
RANDOMNESS
STARS
WATER