Epsilon Carbide: A Low-Temperature Component of Interplanetary Dust Particles
- 23 December 1983
- journal article
- other
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 222 (4630) , 1327-1329
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.222.4630.1327
Abstract
Transmission electron microscope study of a chondritic interplanetary dust particle has revealed the presence of epsilon iron-nickel carbide, a low- temperature carbide previously encountered only in metallurgical studies. In these studies ∈-carbide was synthesized by carburization of iron or nickel grains in a stream of carbon monoxide or carbon monoxide plus hydrogen. Similar carburization of an iron-nickel metal in situ may have produced ∈-carbide during particle heating on atmospheric entry or in solar orbit. Alternatively, the ε-carbide may be a by-product of Fischer-Tropsch reactions in the solar nebula. Such reactions have been proposed as the mechanism of hydrocarbon formation in the early solar system.Keywords
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