Journal
NUCLEAR INSTRUMENTS & METHODS IN PHYSICS RESEARCH SECTION A-ACCELERATORS SPECTROMETERS DETECTORS AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT
Volume 619, Issue 1-3, Pages 83-85Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2009.10.074
Keywords
HCN; Minerals; Chemical evolution; Adsorption; Catalysis
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Hydrogen cyanide is a key molecule for chemical evolution studies because, when it is exposed to different sources of energy, it forms various compounds of biological importance. To understand the role of minerals in chemical evolution, a series of experiments was performed. First, the adsorption capacity of HCN on different surface minerals was studied; the results show that HCN is readily adsorbed onto the solids proposed (zeolite, serpentine, dolomite, and sodium montmorillonite), in particular zeolite and montmorillonite. Second, the radiolysis of HCN adsorbed on olivine (as an example of a mineral surface) was also followed; it was found that the rate of HCN decomposition by gamma irradiation is enhanced in the presence of the solid. The third series of studies show that organic material was produced in high abundance from HCN at high radiation doses. The radiolytic products included gases (CO2, NH4, and CO) and oligomeric materials that release carboxylic acids (succinic, malonic, citric, and tricarballylic acids) and amino acids upon acid hydrolysis. These experiments suggest that minerals could have participated actively in chemical evolution processes. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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