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Adsorption of HCN onto sodium montmorillonite dependent on the pH as a component to chemical evolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2014

M. Colin-Garcia ,
A. Heredia ,
A. Negron-Mendoza ,
F. Ortega ,
T. Pi  and
S. Ramos-Bernal
M. Colin-Garcia*
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico D.F., C.P. 04510, Mexico
A. Heredia
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito exterior s/n, Mexico D.F., C.P. 04510, Mexico
A. Negron-Mendoza
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito exterior s/n, Mexico D.F., C.P. 04510, Mexico
F. Ortega
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico D.F., C.P. 04510, Mexico
T. Pi
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico D.F., C.P. 04510, Mexico
S. Ramos-Bernal
Affiliation:
Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito exterior s/n, Mexico D.F., C.P. 04510, Mexico
*
e-mail: mcolin@geologia.unam.mx
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Abstract

The aim of this work is to study the behaviour of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) adsorbed onto mineral surfaces (sodium montmorillonite, a clay mineral) in different pH environments as a possible prebiotic process for complexation of organics. Our experimental results show that specific sites on the surface of the clay increased the concentration of HCN molecules dependent on the pH values. Moreover, this adsorption can occur through physical and chemical interactions enhanced by the channel structure of the sodium montmorillonite. The three-dimensional channelling structure of the clay accumulates the organics, hindering the releasing (desorption) of the organic molecules. A molecular model developed here also confirms the role of the pH as a regulating factor in the adsorption of HCN onto the inorganic surfaces and the possibility for further reactions forming more complex molecules, as an abiotic mechanism important in prebiotic chemical evolution processes.

Keywords

adsorptionHCNpHprebiotic processessodium montmorillonitetheoretical modelling
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , October 2014 , pp. 310 - 318
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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