Solvation of nitrogen compounds in Titan's seas, precipitates, and atmosphere

  • James M. Stevenson
  • , Wael A. Fouad
  • , David Shalloway
  • , David Usher
  • , Jonathan Lunine
  • , Walter G. Chapman
  • , Paulette Clancy*
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

Saturn's moon Titan, dominated by its low, 90-95. K, surface temperature and methane seas, is shaped by physical and chemical processes unparalleled in any environment on Earth. Titan's upper atmosphere produces a rain of compounds such as acetonitrile, acrylonitrile, and acetylene, more familiar to chemical processing plants than to nature. The interaction of these compounds with Titan's seas is, to a large extent, unknown. As an important first step towards understanding these interactions, we investigate the solvation properties of many of these compounds in methane using multiple theoretical approaches, including cubic equations of state, Statistical Associating Fluid Theory, the Conductor like Screening Model for Real Solvents, and all-atom Molecular Dynamics.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-12
Number of pages12
JournalIcarus
Volume256
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Aug 2015
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Inc.

Keywords

  • Atmospheres, chemistry
  • Titan
  • Titan, atmosphere
  • Titan, hydrology

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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