Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Nuth III, Joseph A
• Johnson, Natasha M
• Manning, Steven

Titel

A Self-Perpetuating Catalyst for the Production of Complex Organic Molecules in Protostellar Nebulae

Ist Teil von

• The Astrophysical journal, 2008-02, Vol.673 (2), p.L225-L228

Ort / Verlag

Chicago, IL: IOP Publishing

Erscheinungsjahr

2008

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• When hydrogen, nitrogen, and CO are exposed to amorphous iron silicate surfaces at temperatures between 500 and 900 K a carbonaceous coating forms via Fischer-Tropsch-type reactions. Under normal circumstances such a coating would impede or stop further reaction. However, we find that this coating is a better catalyst than the amorphous iron silicates that initiate these reactions. Formation of a self-perpetuating catalytic coating on grain surfaces could explain the rich deposits of macromolecular carbon found in primitive meteorites and would imply that protostellar nebulae should be rich in organic material.