2 research outputs found
A Comparative Study on HCN Polymers Synthesized by Polymerization of NH4CN or Diaminomaleonitrile in Aqueous Media: New Perspectives for Prebiotic Chemistry and Materials Science
HCN polymers are a group of complex and heterogeneous substances that are widely known in the fields of astrobiology and prebiotic chemistry. In addition, they have recently received considerable attention as potential functional material coatings. However, the real nature and pathways of formation of HCN polymers remain open questions. It is well established that the tuning of macromolecular structures determines the properties and practical applications of a polymeric material. Herein, different synthetic conditions were explored for the production of HCN polymers from NHCN or diaminomaleonitrile in aqueous media with different concentrations of the starting reactants and several reaction times. By using a systematic methodology, both series of polymers were shown to exhibit similar, but not identical, spectroscopic and thermal fingerprints, which resulted in a clear differentiation of their morphological and electrochemical properties. New macrostructures are proposed for HCN polymers, and promising insights are discussed for prebiotic chemistry and materials science on the basis of the experimental results.The authors used the research facilities of the Centro de AstrobiologĂa
(CAB) and were supported by the Instituto Nacional
de Técnica Aeroespacial “Esteban Terradas” (INTA) and by the
Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacijn y Universidades
ESP2017-89053-C2-2-P. Additionally, the authors are grateful to
Ma Teresa Fernández for recording the FTIR spectra and XRD
and Rosana RamĂrez for the SEM images. J.C.-G. acknowledges
the Ramjn y Cajal contract (RYC-2015-17722).Peer Reviewe