2022 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Electrocatalytic Reductive Functionalization of Carbon Dioxide
| Project/Area Number |
19K15671
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| Research Institution | Tokyo Institute of Technology |
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Principal Investigator |
Li Yamei 東京工業大学, 地球生命研究所, 特任助教 (10745128)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
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| Keywords | Amino acid decomposition / Electrochemistry / Carbonaceous chondrite / Mineral catalysis |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
Based on the results on electrochemical decomposition of amino acids in CO2-saturated solution, I have studied the amino acid decomposition chemistry on the parent bodies of carbonaceous chondrites and asteroid. The significance is that these extraterrestrial samples could have provided amino acids for seeding origin of life on Earth. These research results have resulted in one published
paper (Nature Communications, 2022) and one manuscript currently under review (Li et al., under review). Our major finding is that aqueous alteration can lead to complex behavior of organics on its parent body, including both synthetic and breakdown mechanisms. Our findings suggest that water/rock differentiated Solar System bodies could have generated the chemical heterogenity in various samples.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
1: Research has progressed more than it was originally planned.
Reason
The research is progressed as planned and have generated a novel model which can account for the organic distributions in extraterrestrial samples. The model together with the experimental results could contribute to diverse research fields, including astrobiology, origins of life, meteorite and planetary sciences. Our model provides some new hypotheses in an underexplored area, with relevance to origins of life, life detection, and potential upcoming missions.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
In the future, I plan to extend the model to real extraterrestrial samples.In detail, I would like to test the electrochemical reactivities of meteorites samples and possibly the return sample from asteroid Ryugu (under application). By studying these samples, the pristine catalytic properties of naturally-occuring minerals can be testified. The reaction mechanism and kinetic information can provide important constraints for deepening our understanding on the chemical evolution of their parent bodies.
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