Three-dimensional complex architectures observed in shock processed amino acid mixtures

Abstract

Asteroid and cometary impacts have been considered one of the possible routes for exogenous delivery of organics to the early Earth. It is well established that amino acids can be synthesized due to impact-driven shock processes of simple molecules and that amino acids can survive the extreme conditions of impact events. In the present study, we simulate impact-induced shock conditions utilizing a shock tube that can maintain a reflected shock temperature of about 5500 K for 2 ms time scale. We have performed shock processing of various combinations of amino acids with subsequent morphological and structural analysis carried out using SEM, revealing that the shock processed amino acids demonstrate an extensive range of complex structures. These results provide evidence for the further evolution of amino acids in impact-induced shock environments leading towards the formation of complex structures and thus providing a pathway for the origin of life.