Catalytic conversion reactions of acetylene on a solid SiC grain surface lead to the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and are expected to mimic chemical processes in certain astrophysical environments. Gas-phase PAHs and intermediates were detected in situ using time-of-flight mass spectrometry, and their formation was confirmed using GC-MS in a separate experiment by flowing acetylene gas through a fixed-bed reactor. Activation of acetylene correlated closely with the dangling bonds on the SiC surface which interact with and break the C-C π bond. The addition of acetylene to the resulting radical site forms a surface ring structure which desorbs from the surface. The results of HRTEM and TG indicate that soot and graphene formation on the SiC surface depends strongly on reaction temperature. We propose that PAHs as seen through the 'UIR' emission bands can be formed through decomposition of a graphene-like material, formed on the surface of SiC grains in carbon-rich circumstellar envelopes.

Motivated by their importance in chemistry, physics, astronomy and materials science, we investigate routes to the formation of large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules and the fullerene C60 from specific smaller PAH building blocks. The behaviour of selected PAH molecules under electron (using transmission electron microscopy, TEM) and laser irradiation is examined, where four specific PAHs—anthracene, pyrene, perylene and coronene—are assembling into larger structures and fullerenes. This contrasts with earlier TEM studies in which large graphene flakes were shown to transform into fullerenes via a top-down route. A new combined approach is presented in which spectrometric and microscopic experimental techniques exploit the stabilisation of adsorbed molecules through supramolecular interactions with a graphene substrate and enable the molecules to be characterised and irradiated sequentially. Thereby allowing initiation of transformation and characterisation of the resultant species by both mass spectrometry and direct-space imaging. We investigate the types of large PAH molecule that can form from smaller PAHs, and discuss the potential of a “bottom-up” followed by “top-down” mechanism for forming C60.