Experimental evidence for water formation via ozone hydrogenation on dust grains at 10 K

TL;DR

This study provides experimental evidence that ozone hydrogenation on dust grains at 10 K efficiently produces water, supporting models of interstellar water formation without activation barriers.

Contribution

First experimental demonstration of water formation from ozone hydrogenation on dust grains at interstellar temperatures.

Findings

Water formation efficiency comparable to O and O2 reactions

No apparent activation barrier for ozone hydrogenation

Validation of ozone as a water precursor in space

Abstract

The formation of water molecules from the reaction between ozone (O3) and D-atoms is studied experimentally for the first time. Ozone is deposited on non-porous amorphous solid water ice (H2O), and D-atoms are then sent onto the sample held at 10 K. HDO molecules are detected during the desorption of the whole substrate where isotope mixing takes place, indicating that water synthesis has occurred. The efficiency of water formation via hydrogenation of ozone is of the same order of magnitude of that found for reactions involving O atoms or O2 molecules and exhibits no apparent activation barrier. These experiments validate the assumption made by models using ozone as one of the precursors of water formation via solid-state chemistry on interstellar dust grains.