The Prebiotic Pathway from P-Bearing Iron Meteorites to Phosphates by DFT Modeling
Among the biogenic macroelements, phosphorus is the one bringing the most fascinating and unsolved mysteries concerning its prebiotic history. It possibly landed on Earth as a metal phosphide (schreibersite, (Fe,Ni)3P), throughout the Heavy Meteor Bombardment during the Archean Era. Its subsequent corrosion by water led to P-oxygenated compounds, which are the subject of this kinetic computational study, which complements our previous thermodynamic characterization. The reaction was studied at the periodic DFT level, simulating the water corrosion reaction on the reactive Fe2NiP schreibersite (001) surface. Results show that the time scale of the reaction at 350 K is a few hours.
Authors
- Marta Corno (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7248-2705)
- Piero Ugliengo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8886-9832)
- Nadia Balucani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5121-5683)
- Stefano Pantaleone (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2457-1065)
- Albert Rimola (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9637-4554)
Institutions
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ES)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Perugia (IT)
- Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory (IT)
- Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (FR)
- Institut des langues et cultures d'Europe, Amérique, Afrique, Asie et Australie (FR)
- University of Turin (IT)
- Université Grenoble Alpes (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ACS Earth and Space Chemistry
- Published
- 2025-02-03
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.4c00321
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Origins and Evolution of Life
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.15
Funders
- Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
- Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación
- H2020 European Research Council