Analysis of the Products of the Reaction between Nitrogen and Methane Generated in the Gliding Arc Discharge

miscellaneous

English

Nowadays the exploration of the atmospheres of the planets is in great progress. The latest research proved that there is certainly a chemical evolution leading to the synthesis of bigger molecules. These processes could finally lead to life creation. Thus, multi-disciplinary approach has to be applied to understand the chemical evolution of planetary atmospheres. The simulated Titan atmosphere was formed by a nitrogen/methane mixture in the ratio of 98:2 at the flow rate of 5 l/min. The GlidArc discharge reactor had the classical configuration with a pair of ceramic plates positioned in parallel to the copper electrodes. The power supplied into the reactor was 70 W. The samples of the discharge exhaust gas were taken out using solid phase micro extraction technique and immediately analyzed by GC-MS technique. Besides the simple linear hydrocarbons as decane or simple branched linear molecules as decane-2-methyl, more complicated hydrocarbon structures were identified, for example dodecylphtalate. Because the atmosphere contained mostly nitrogen, various azo compounds were determined, too. These molecules can be precursors for other more complicated molecular structures, even some amino acids. The chemical evolution of the Titan atmosphere is thus very complex and further experiments must be done to confirm this assumption.

gliding arc discharge, titan atmosphere GC-MS analysis

POLÁCHOVÁ, L.; KRČMA, F.; ČÁSLAVSKÝ, J.

2009

23. 8. 2009

Taras Schevchenko University

Kiev

81

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