Abstract
Silicates constitute an important class of interstellar grain material and are the site of catalytic activities, most notably the formation of molecular hydrogen. Here we report an analysis of experiments conducted in the laboratory to measure the efficiency of formation of molecular hydrogen on amorphous silicates, a realistic analogue of interstellar dust grains. From the measurements, we also obtain the energetics of key processes in the reaction and information on the mechanism of reaction. Comparison with earlier measurements of molecular hydrogen formation on a sample of polycrystalline olivine shows that amorphous materials are more efficient catalysts.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1291-1298 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Advances in Space Research |
Volume | 43 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 15 2009 |
Keywords
- ISM: Dust
- ISM: Processes
- Molecular hydrogen
- Silicates
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Aerospace Engineering
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Geophysics
- Atmospheric Science
- Space and Planetary Science
- General Earth and Planetary Sciences