Mid-infrared vibrational study of deuterium-containing PAH variants

Buragohain, Mridusmita; Pathak, Amit; Sarre, Peter; Onaka, Takashi; Sakon, Itsuki

Abstract

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules have been long proposed to be a major carrier of ‘Unidentified Infrared’ (UIR) emission bands that have been observed ubiquitously in various astrophysical environments. These molecules can potentially be an efficient reservoir of deuterium. Once the infrared properties of the deuteriumcontaining PAHs are well understood both experimentally and theoretically, the interstellar UIR bands can be used as a valuable tool to infer the cause of the deuterium depletion in the ISM.

Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations have been carried out on deuteriumcontaining ovalene variants to study the infrared properties of these molecules. These include deuterated ovalene, cationic deuterated ovalene, deuteronated ovalene and deuterated-deuteronated ovalene. We present a D/H ratio calculated from our theoretical study to compare with the observationally proposed D/H ratio.

Citation

Buragohain, M., Pathak, A., Sarre, P., Onaka, T., & Sakon, I. (2016). Mid-infrared vibrational study of deuterium-containing PAH variants. Planetary and Space Science, 133, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2016.05.001

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 9, 2016
• Online Publication Date: May 13, 2016
• Publication Date: Nov 15, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jul 15, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 15, 2016
• Journal: Planetary and Space Science
• Print ISSN: 0032-0633
• Electronic ISSN: 0032-0633
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 133
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2016.05.001
• Keywords: PAH; Interstellar molecules; IR spectra; Unidentified infrared bands; Astrochemistry
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/828404
• Publisher URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032063315301070
• Contract Date: Jul 15, 2016