Experimental Insights Into The Formation Of Interstellar Fullerenes And Carbon Nanotubes

Bernal, Jacob

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/116881 Copy

Description

Title

Experimental Insights Into The Formation Of Interstellar Fullerenes And Carbon Nanotubes

Author(s)

Bernal, Jacob

Contributor(s)

• Ziurys, Lucy M.
• Zega, Thomas J.

Issue Date

2022-06-23

Keyword(s)

Astronomy

Abstract

The detection of the fullerenes C$_{60}$ and C$_{70}$ in the interstellar medium (ISM) has transformed our understanding of chemical complexity in space, and have also raised the possibility for the presence of even larger molecules in astrophysical environments. Here we report in situ heating of analog silicon carbide (SiC) presolar grains using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). These heating experiments are designed to simulate shocks occurring in post-AGB stellar envelopes. Our experimental findings reveal that heating the analog SiC grains yields hemispherical C$_{60}$-sized nanostructures, which later transform into multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). These MWCNTs are larger than any of the currently- observed interstellar fullerene species, both in overall size and number of C atoms. These experimental results suggest that such MWCNTs are likely to form in post-AGB shocks, where the structures, along with the smaller fullerenes, are subsequently injected into the ISM.

Publisher

International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy

Type of Resource

text

Genre of Resource

Conference Paper / Presentation

Language

eng

Handle URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/116881

DOI

https://doi.org/10.15278/isms.2022.RN05

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2022 held by the authors

Owning Collections