Published January 1, 2016
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Spectromicroscopy of C-60 and azafullerene C59N: Identifying surface adsorbed water
Creators
- 1. Univ Vienna, Fac Phys, Boltzmanngasse 5, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
- 2. Univ Mons, Chem Interact Plasma Surface ChIPS, Mons, Belgium
- 3. TU Vienna, Inst Mat Chem, A-1060 Vienna, Austria
- 4. Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin Mat & Energie GmbH, Inst Soft Matter & Funct Mat, Berlin, Germany
- 5. Natl Hellen Res Fdn, Inst Theoret & Phys Chem, 48 Vassileos Constantinou Ave, GR-11635 Athens, Greece
- 6. McMaster Univ, Dept Chem & Chem Biol, Hamilton, ON L8S 4M1, Canada
- 7. Univ Nantes, CNRS, Inst Mat Jean Rouxel, Nantes, France
Description
C-60 fullerene crystals may serve as important catalysts for interstellar organic chemistry. To explore this possibility, the electronic structures of free-standing powders of C-60 and (C59N)(2) azafullerenes are characterized using X-ray microscopy with near-edge X-ray adsorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy, closely coupled with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. This is supported with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements and associated core-level shift DFT calculations. We compare the oxygen 1s spectra from oxygen impurities in C-60 and C59N, and calculate a range of possible oxidized and hydroxylated structures and associated formation barriers. These results allow us to propose a model for the oxygen present in these samples, notably the importance of water surface adsorption and possible ice formation. Water adsorption on C-60 crystal surfaces may prove important for astrobiological studies of interstellar amino acid formation.
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