Sulphur ion implantation into O2, CO, and CO2 ices: Implications for the formation of sulphur-bearing molecules in the Kuiper Belt

Mifsud, Duncan V.; Kaňuchová, Zuzana; Herczku, Péter; Juhász, Zoltán; Kovács, Sándor T.S.; Lakatos, Gergő; Rahul, K.K.; Rácz, Richárd; Sulik, Béla; Biri, Sándor; Rajta, István; Vajda, István; Ioppolo, Sergio; McCullough, Robert W.; Mason, Nigel J.

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2023.115926

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 122 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The formation of complex organic matter including long aliphatic chains or multiple cycles seems unlikely in these conditions. Experiments of sulfur implantation into CO 2 ices (Lv et al 2014;Mifsud et al 2022Mifsud et al , 2023 have yielded some of the usual oxidized products of CO 2 radiation processing, but the absence of hydrogen in these experiments meant that no hydrogenation of carbon could occur.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sulfur Implantation into Water Ice with Propane: Implications for Organic Chemistry on the Surface of Europa

Bouquet,

da Costa,

Boduch

et al. 2024

Planet. Sci. J.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We performed experiments of implantation of energetic sulfur ions (105 keV) into 2:1 water:propane ices at 80 K and analyzed the resulting refractory organic matter with ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry. Our goal was to characterize the organic matter processed in the surface conditions of Europa, where it would receive a heavy flux of energetic particles, including sulfur ions, and determine whether organosulfurs could be formed in these conditions, using the simplest alkane that can exist in solid form on Europa’s surface. We find that the produced organic matter contains a large variety of both aliphatic and aromatic compounds (several thousand unique formulae), including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), with masses up to 900 amu. A large number of aromatic hydrocarbons is found along with oxygenated, mostly aliphatic, compounds. Organosulfurs are found in both CHS and CHOS form, demonstrating they can be formed from any organic compound through sulfur implantation. These organosulfurs’ properties (aromaticity, mass) appear similar to the rest of the organic matter, albeit their low quantity does not allow for a thorough comparison. Our results have implications for the type of refractory organic matter that could be observed by the JUICE and Europa Clipper space missions and how the surface of Europa could generate complex organics, including PAHs and organosulfurs, that could then enrich the subsurface ocean. In particular, they indicate that a large diversity of organic matter, including organosulfurs, can be formed from simple precursors in a geologically short time frame under the ion flux that reaches Europa.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%