Prebiotic synthesis of mineral-bearing microdroplet from inorganic carbon photoreduction at air–water interface

Abstract

Abstract The origin of life on Earth is an enigmatic and intricate conundrum that has yet to be comprehensively resolved despite recent significant developments within the discipline of archaeology and geology. Chemically, metal-sulfide minerals are speculated to serve as an important medium for giving birth in early life, while yet so far direct evidence to support the hypothesis for the highly efficient conversion of inorganic carbon into praxiological biomolecules remains scarce. In this work, we provide an initial indication that sphalerite, employed as a typical mineral, shows its enormous capability for promoting the conversion of inorganic carbon into elementary biomolecule formic acid (HCOOH) in airborne mineral-bearing aerosol microdroplet, which is over two orders of magnitude higher than that of the corresponding conventional bulk-like aqueous phase medium in the environment (e.g. river, lake, sea, etc.). This significant enhancement was further validated by a wide range of minerals and clays, including CuS, NiS, CoS, CdS, MnS, elemental sulfur, Arizona Test Dust, loess, nontronite, and montmorillonite. We reveal that the abundant interface of unique physical–chemical features instinct for aerosol or cloud microdroplets reduces the reaction energy barrier for the reaction, thus leading to extremely high HCOOH production (2.52 × 1014 kg year−1). This study unfolds unrecognized remarkable contributions of the considered scheme in the accumulation of prebiotic biomolecules in the ancient period of the Earth.