Synthesis of methane in nanotube channels by a flash.
Inorganic synthesis of organic molecules is a significant step for the primordial life. Generally, inorganic synthesis of methane necessitates, in addition to catalyst, a high-temperature and high-pressure environment. Here we will show that such an environment could be locally and instantly realized in the channels of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) even under room temperature and ultrahigh vacuum conditions just by a visible-light flash, owing to the ultra-photothermal effect of nanomaterials. As a result, methane signals were definitely detected by using a quadrupole mass spectrometer and an optical fiber spectrometer. The mechanisms were interpreted as Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Our results provide an alternative explanation of abiogenic methane origin.
Guo
Deng-Zhu
DZ
Department of Electronics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. guodz@pku.edu.cn
Xue
Zeng-Quan
ZQ
Chen
Qi
Q
Zhang
Geng-Min
GM
Zhang
Zhao-Xiang
ZX
Gu
Zhen-Nan
ZN