Water disinfectants are used to treat pathogens in the water supply, but chlorine is known to react with organic matter to produce toxic disinfectant by-products (DBP). Other disinfectants, such as monochloramine, provide a higher level of disinfection without producing chlorinated DBP’s. However, studies have shown that monochloramine can corrode copper and lead surfaces, but little is known for iron-based materials. Iron interfaces are prevalent in soils, minerals, and atmospheric dust, and are known to undergo redox reactions. Iron is a known catalyst in several processes due to its different active sites. Due to the advent of degradation of disinfectants in the water supply, the reaction of monochloramine was investigated on iron interfaces in complex environments.

The interaction of monochloramine was studied at the air/solution/iron interface using in situ polarized modulated infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS). These studies are compared with the iron interfaces exposed to aqueous solutions that were used to synthesize monochloramine, NH₄Cl(aq), NaOH(aq), and NaOCl(aq). After exposure to each solution, ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to measure the chemical composition at the interface region exposed to atmospheric O₂ and CO₂ and the region submerged in solution. This builds upon our previous work where we have investigated alkali and alkaline chloride solutions at the air/electrolyte/iron interface. There the anion acts to corrode the surface to produce nucleation sites for carbonate film growth, while the cation influences the mineral film identity and the rate of carbonation from the uptake of CO₂. These findings show that water disinfectants at solution/metal interfaces result in unexpected reactions in complex aqueous systems, which may provide insight for related surface catalytic and environmental processes.

The surface chemistry of the Martian regolith has a significant impact on the atmospheric composition on the Red Planet. For example, methane concentrations vary by a factor of ~3 or more during a Marsian year. Theories based on established photochemical and environmental mechanisms, have so far failed to accurately model the seasonal variation. The currently known gas/solid interfacial chemistry that forms and removes methane from the Marsian atmosphere is insufficient to explain the observed dynamics.

We propose an alternative driver of Martian surface chemistry: wind-driven triboelectric charging of minerals. Sand storms, saltation, and erosion are common phenomena on the Red Planet. In proof-of-principle laboratory experiments, we have shown how Martian mineral analogs can erode each other and induce electric discharges with sufficient energy to (1) ionize and/or dissociate gasses like argon, methane, and carbon dioxide and (2) drive gas/solid interfacial chemistry of organic species present on the surface of these minerals. Using advanced surface spectroscopies (XPS, NEXAFS, etc.) we show how saltation can drastically alter the gas and mineral surface composition. For example, tumbling quartz sand in a methane atmosphere will change the colour of the sand from pristine white to reddish/brown (see attached figure). Using a custom-built container, we also simulate a sand storm with realistic Martian atmospheres and mineral analogs, sealed inside a container made of the very same mineral. In this way, we exclude possible interference effects from the container walls, and come as close to the actual conditions of a sand storm on Mars as is possible on Earth.

The sources of molecular water in planetary systems is a subject of general interest in astrophysics and astrochemistry and its presence and persistence are critical for life on Earth and for space missions involving long term human exploration.The Moon is the nearest exploration target and sources of water include primordial water, delivery via comets and meteorites, formation and release during small impact events, and solar wind interactions. Our controlled surface science experiments have demonstrated that thermally activated recombinative desorption (RD) or associative desorption (AD) from lunar regolith and other solar wind irradiated grains can be an additional source term for water formation. This involves hydroxyl (-OH) defects made by implantation of solar wind protons. Using several Apollo lunar samples, temperature program desorption (TPD) experiments conducted under ultra-high vacuum conditions yielded first order activation energies for desorption of chemisorbed molecular water and second order activation energies for the RD mediated formation and release of molecular water. Depending on the temperature excursions, RD can occur on a diurnal basis on the Moon and is likely prevalent during impacts with meteorites and meteoroids. This is simulated by laser impact studies followed by state and velocity resolved detection of the photo-produced water. Once formed, the water can either desorb, or be transported on and within the regolith and grain surfaces.Our combined experimental and modeling effort has successfully simulated recent observational data of water on both Mercury and the Moon. Water formation via RD is also likely general under astrophysical conditions that involve proton bombardment followed by thermal excursions (> 400 K), and is critical to the formation of water in star forming regions and in developing strategies for extraction of water for future, sustainable human space exploration missions.