Anomalous formation of trihydrogen cations from water on nanoparticles

M. Said Alghabra, Rami Ali, Vyacheslav Kim, Mazhar Iqbal, Philipp Rosenberger, Sambit Mitra, Ritika Dagar, Philipp Rupp, Boris Bergues, Deepak Mathur, Matthias F. Kling and Ali S. Alnaser ()
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M. Said Alghabra: American University of Sharjah
Rami Ali: American University of Sharjah
Vyacheslav Kim: American University of Sharjah
Mazhar Iqbal: American University of Sharjah
Philipp Rosenberger: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich
Sambit Mitra: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich
Ritika Dagar: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich
Philipp Rupp: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich
Boris Bergues: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich
Deepak Mathur: Manipal Academy of Higher Education
Matthias F. Kling: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich
Ali S. Alnaser: American University of Sharjah

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Regarded as the most important ion in interstellar chemistry, the trihydrogen cation, $${{\rm{H}}}_{{{3}}}^{+}$$ H 3 + , plays a vital role in the formation of water and many complex organic molecules believed to be responsible for life in our universe. Apart from traditional plasma discharges, recent laboratory studies have focused on forming the trihydrogen cation from large organic molecules during their interactions with intense radiation and charged particles. In contrast, we present results on forming $${{\rm{H}}}_{{{3}}}^{+}$$ H 3 + from bimolecular reactions that involve only an inorganic molecule, namely water, without the presence of any organic molecules to facilitate its formation. This generation of $${{\rm{H}}}_{{{3}}}^{+}$$ H 3 + is enabled by “engineering” a suitable reaction environment comprising water-covered silica nanoparticles exposed to intense, femtosecond laser pulses. Similar, naturally-occurring, environments might exist in astrophysical settings where hydrated nanometer-sized dust particles are impacted by cosmic rays of charged particles or solar wind ions. Our results are a clear manifestation of how aerosolized nanoparticles in intense femtosecond laser fields can serve as a catalysts that enable exotic molecular entities to be produced via non-traditional routes.

Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-24175-9

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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24175-9

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