Premium
The state of hydrogen peroxide on Europa
Author(s) -
Loeffler M. J.,
Baragiola R. A.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2005gl023569
Subject(s) - hydrogen peroxide , infrared , molecule , absorption (acoustics) , hydrogen , astrobiology , chemistry , infrared spectroscopy , peroxide , materials science , photochemistry , analytical chemistry (journal) , mineralogy , crystallography , physics , optics , environmental chemistry , organic chemistry
We report infrared reflectance studies in the laboratory that reveal the state of hydrogen peroxide on Europa. Detailed analysis of the 3.5 μm infrared absorption band for hydrogen peroxide grown in a number of water ice environments shows that, for temperatures and concentrations relevant to Europa (80–130 K), hydrogen peroxide molecules exist in isolated trimers H 2 O 2 •2H 2 O. If the temperature on an icy body containing H 2 O 2 approaches 150 K, as on Ganymede, the trimers aggregate into precipitates of crystalline dihydrate H 2 O 2 •2H 2 O.