CO2 SYNTHESIS BY ION BOMBARDMENT

• Main Authors: M. J. Loeffler, U. Raut, B. D. Teolis, R. A. Vidal, R. A. Baragiola
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carbonic acid; Ice cap
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.558.7160; http://www.vsgc.odu.edu/src/Papers/Paper - M. Loeffler.pdf

Here we present laboratory studies where we measure, using infrared spectroscopy, the production of CO2 from amorphous carbon grains with a water ice cap that have been irradiated with 100 keV H+ ions. We find that CO2 is produced in both thin films where the ions hit the substrate and in thicker films where the ions stop in the ice film. Furthermore, we have found that we produce more CO2 at 16 K than we do at 120 K. Also after we warm the film and the water ice desorbs, we detect semi-stable carbonaceous species on the substrate. One of the species identified appears to be carbonic acid, H2CO3, which shows that even with two of the most basic substances present in outer space, more complex molecules can be produced by radiation processing.