Recent observations have revealed higher than trace amounts of methane in the form of spatially and temporally localized plumes on the planet Mars. These observations have also shown that the methane plumes dissipate to background levels quickly, on the order of 200 days which is 600 times faster than the known photochemistry for methane. One possibility for this destruction is a heterogeneous reaction between hydrogen peroxide and methane.  To investigate this hypothesis, hydrogen peroxide was adsorbed on a Martian soil simulant (JSC Mars-1) and reacted with methane in a vacuum chamber. Diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy was used to detect any change in the JSC Mars-1 surface (including product formation) while mass spectrometry was used to detect any gas-phase products. The identity of surface-bound and gas-phase products will be discussed along with implications for the hypothesis that surface-bound hydrogen peroxide is causing the rapid methane destruction on Mars.

Reaction of methane with hydrogen peroxide adsorbed on a Martian soil simulant

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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