Recently, a research group led by Prof. YUAN Kaijun and Prof. YANG Xueming
from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy
of Sciences revealed strong isotope effects in photodissociation of the
water isotopologue (HOD) using the Dalian Coherent Light Source.
Their findings were published in Science Advances on July 21, 2021.
“Our experimental results illustrate dramatically different quantum state
population distributions of OH and OD fragments from HOD photodissociation.
The branching ratios of the H+OD and D+OH channels display large
wavelength-dependent isotopic fractionation,” said Prof. YUAN.
Because water is one of the most abundant species in the solar nebula,
photodissociation of water and its isotopologue by solar vacuum ultraviolet
photons may be an alternative source of the D/H isotope heterogeneity, and
this effect must be considered in photochemical models.
The photochemical processes identified in this work may vary the D/H
isotopic ratios in the inner and outer regions, and/or in different periods
of the solar nebula, which may cause the D/H isotope heterogeneity in the
solar system.
Reference:
Strong isotope effect in the VUV photodissociation of HOD: A possible origin
of D/H isotope heterogeneity in the solar nebula by Zijie Luo, Yarui Zhao,
Zhichao Chen, Yao Chang, Su-e Zhang, Yucheng Wu, Jiayue Yang, Yi Cheng, Li
Che, Guorong Wu, Daiqian Xie, Xueming Yang and Kaijun Yuan, 21 July 2021,
Science Advances.
Tags:
Chemistry