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Murphy DM, Abou-Ghanem M, Cziczo DJ, Froyd KD, Jacquot J, Lawler MJ, Maloney C, Plane JMC, Ross MN, Schill GP, Shen X. Metals from spacecraft reentry in stratospheric aerosol particles. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2313374120. [PMID: 37844220 PMCID: PMC10614211 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2313374120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2023] [Accepted: 09/07/2023] [Indexed: 10/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Large increases in the number of low earth orbit satellites are projected in the coming decades [L. Schulz, K.-H. Glassmeier, Adv. Space Res. 67, 1002-1025 (2021)] with perhaps 50,000 additional satellites in orbit by 2030 [GAO, Large constellations of satellites: Mitigating environmental and other effects (2022)]. When spent rocket bodies and defunct satellites reenter the atmosphere, they produce metal vapors that condense into aerosol particles that descend into the stratosphere. So far, models of spacecraft reentry have focused on understanding the hazard presented by objects that survive to the surface rather than on the fate of the metals that vaporize. Here, we show that metals that vaporized during spacecraft reentries can be clearly measured in stratospheric sulfuric acid particles. Over 20 elements from reentry were detected and were present in ratios consistent with alloys used in spacecraft. The mass of lithium, aluminum, copper, and lead from the reentry of spacecraft was found to exceed the cosmic dust influx of those metals. About 10% of stratospheric sulfuric acid particles larger than 120 nm in diameter contain aluminum and other elements from spacecraft reentry. Planned increases in the number of low earth orbit satellites within the next few decades could cause up to half of stratospheric sulfuric acid particles to contain metals from reentry. The influence of this level of metallic content on the properties of stratospheric aerosol is unknown.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel M. Murphy
- Chemical Sciences Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO80305
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN47907
| | - Maya Abou-Ghanem
- Chemical Sciences Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO80305
| | - Daniel J. Cziczo
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN47907
| | - Karl D. Froyd
- Chemical Sciences Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO80305
- Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO80309
| | - Justin Jacquot
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN47907
| | - Michael J. Lawler
- Chemical Sciences Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO80305
- Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO80309
| | - Christopher Maloney
- Chemical Sciences Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO80305
- Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO80309
| | - John M. C. Plane
- School of Chemistry, University of Leeds, LeedsLS29JT, United Kingdom
| | | | - Gregory P. Schill
- Chemical Sciences Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO80305
| | - Xiaoli Shen
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN47907
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Wickramasinghe RC, Pasterski MJ, Kenig F, Ievlev AV, Lorenz M, Gross JM, Hanley L. Femtosecond Laser Desorption Postionization MS vs ToF-SIMS Imaging for Uncovering Biomarkers Buried in Geological Samples. Anal Chem 2021; 93:15949-15957. [PMID: 34793141 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.1c03275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The study of lipid molecular fossils by traditional biomarker analysis requires bulk sample crushing, followed by solvent extraction, and then the analysis of the extract by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). This traditional analysis mixes all organic compounds in the sample regardless of their origins, with a loss of information on the spatial distribution of organic molecules within the sample. These shortcomings can be overcome using the chemical mapping of intact samples. Spectroscopic techniques such as UV fluorescence or Raman spectroscopy, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) are among those elemental and molecular mapping techniques. This study employed femtosecond (fs) laser ablation combined with single-photon ionization, a method called fs-laser desorption postionization mass spectrometry (fs-LDPI-MS). A pulsed ∼75 fs, 800 nm laser was used to ablate the geological sample, which was then photoionized after a few microseconds by a pulsed 7.9 eV vacuum ultraviolet laser. An organic carbon-rich geological sample was used for this study to map hydrocarbon biomarkers in sediments that were previously studied by GC-MS. The petrography of this sample was examined by optical and fluorescence microscopy. It is demonstrated here that fs-LDPI-MS combined with petrography for multimodal imaging can expose buried compounds within the sample via in situ layer removal. When used in conjunction with traditional organic geochemical analysis, this method has the potential to determine the spatial distribution of organic biomarkers in geological material. Finally, fs-LDPI-MS imaging data are compared with ToF-SIMS imaging that is commonly used for such studies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Michael J Pasterski
- University of Illinois Chicago, Earth & Environmental Sciences (MC 186), Chicago, Illinois 60607, United States
| | - Fabien Kenig
- University of Illinois Chicago, Earth & Environmental Sciences (MC 186), Chicago, Illinois 60607, United States
| | - Anton V Ievlev
- Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, United States
| | - Matthias Lorenz
- Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, United States
| | - Jason M Gross
- University of Illinois Chicago, Chemistry (MC 111), Chicago, Illinois 60607, United States
| | - Luke Hanley
- University of Illinois Chicago, Chemistry (MC 111), Chicago, Illinois 60607, United States
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Cheng YH, Cheung YF, Siu-Chung Tam T, Lok CN, Sun H, Ng KM. Plasmonic metal nanoparticles as efficient mass tags for ion signal amplification and ultrasensitive detection of protein markers. Anal Chim Acta 2019; 1055:1-6. [DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2018.12.057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2018] [Revised: 12/17/2018] [Accepted: 12/30/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Sysoev AA, Karpov AV, Milyaeva VV, Sysoev AA. Novel approach to constructing laser ionization elemental time-of-flight mass spectrometer. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MASS SPECTROMETRY (CHICHESTER, ENGLAND) 2018; 24:96-107. [PMID: 29160094 DOI: 10.1177/1469066717743044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
The main advantages of laser sampling are associated with following features: sample preparations as well as consumables are not needed, low risk of sample contamination, good spatial resolution. In mass spectrometry, high laser irradiance can be used for both ablation and ionization processes. The method is especially profitable in time-of-flight mass spectrometry. A new principle of constructing laser ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer based on wedge-shaped ion mirrors and the absence of electrostatic ion acceleration before mass analysis is discussed. Among advantages of the analyzer there are ability to provide temporal focusing of ions in a wide energy range (±20%), compactness of the analyzer, and minimization of the requirements for power supplies. The approach is expected to be profitable for standardless elemental analysis of solid samples, which should be possible at laser irradiation power density more than 3 × 109 W/cm2 that ensures complete ionization of all elements in a laser plasma. The analytical signal of each element is formed as the sum of the signals for all charge states and the energy scan of the mass spectra is provided.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Alexey A Sysoev
- 65012 National Research Nuclear University MEPHI , Moscow, Russia
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Irikura KK. Ab Initio Computation of Energy Deposition During Electron Ionization of Molecules. J Phys Chem A 2017; 121:7751-7760. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.7b07993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Karl K. Irikura
- Chemical Sciences Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-8320, United States
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