Third-year PhD student Markus Hammonds has been awarded a prestigious Universitas 21 Scholarship by the University’s Graduate School to undertake 6 weeks of experiments in the Chemistry Department at The University of Hong Kong. Markus will be studying how polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules form in astronomical environments.
Graphene-like PAHs are key molecules in space and probably account for 20% of all the carbon in the interstellar medium. Their presence is revealed through characteristic infrared emission bands that are seen when the PAHs are illuminated by a nearby star. However, their formation mechanism remains a mystery. The joint Nottingham-Hong Kong experiments will probe whether reactions of small carbon molecules on silicates such as olivine hold the key to PAH formation.
Markus's EPSRC-funded research combines experimental, theoretical and observational work in astrochemistry under the supervision of Prof. Peter Sarre in collaboration with Prof. Allan Cheung at The University of Hong Kong. His PhD work has involved travel to South Africa to use telescope facilities and extensive quantum chemical calculations on PAHs using the High Performance Computing Facility.
"Trying to find an answer as to how these large organic molecules form through my work in Hong Kong is very exciting. A solution to this problem could have widespread implications not only in astrochemistry but in astrobiology and for the prospects of life elsewhere in the Universe. I am looking forward to seeing what we can find out!
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