Chemical Reactions in the Nitrogen-Acetone Ice Induced by Cosmic Ray
Chemical reactions in the nitrogen-acetone ice induced by cosmic ray analogs: relevance for the Solar System A. L. F. de Barros1,2, D. P. P. Andrade3, E. F. da Silveira4, K. F. Alcantara4, 5 5 P. Boduch , H. Rothard 1 Departamento de F´ısica, Centro Federal de Educa¸c˜ao Tecnolo´gica Celso Suckow da Fonseca, Av. Maracana˜ 229, 20271-110 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil 2 NASA Ames Research Center, Mail Stop 245-6, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000, USA 3 Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Observatorio do Valon go, Ladeira Pedro Antonio, 43, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 4 Departamento de F´ısica, Pontif´ıcia Universidade Cat´olica do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Marquˆes de S˜ao Vicente 225, 22451-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil 5 Centre de Recherche sur les Ions, les Mat´eriaux et la Photonique Normandie Univ, ENSICAEN, UNICAEN, CEA, CNRS, CIMAP, 14000 Caen, France ABSTRACT The radiolysis of a 10:1 nitrogen:acetone mixture, condensed at 11 K, by 40 MeV 58Ni11+ ions is studied. These results are representative of studies concerning solar system objects exposed to cosmic rays. In the Kuiper Belt, region of Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), acetone, N2 and other small molecules were detected and may be present on icy surfaces. Bombardment by cosmic rays triggers chemical reactions leading to synthesis of larger molecules. In this work, destruction cross sections of acetone and nitrogen molecules in solid phase are determined from a sequence of infrared spectra obtained at increasing ion beam fluence. The results are analyzed and compared with those of previous experiments performed with pure acetone.
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