Evaporative cooling and reaction of carbon dioxide clusters by low-energy electron attachment

Abstract

Anionic carbonate CO3− has been found in interstellar space and the Martian atmosphere, but its production mechanism is in debate so far. To mimic the irradiation-induced reactions on icy micrograins in the Martian atmosphere and the icy shell of interstellar dust, here we report a laboratory investigation on the dissociative electron attachments to the molecular clusters of CO2. We find that anionic species (CO2)n−1O− and (CO2)n− (n = 2, 3, 4) are produced in the concerted reaction and further stabilized by the evaporative cooling after the electron attachment. We further propose a dynamics model to elucidate their competitive productions: the (CO2)n− yields survive substantially in the molecular evaporative cooling at the lower electron attachment energy, while the reactions leading to (CO2)n−1O− are favored at the higher attachment energy. This work provides new insights into physicochemical processes in CO2-rich atmospheres and interstellar space.