Analogues of Titan's aerosols: the different steps of formation in a N₂-CH₄ plasma

Zoé Perrin (1) , Audrey Chatain (2, 3) , Nathalie Ruscassier (4) , Ludovic Vettier (2)

1 LATMOS - Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales
2 PLANETO - LATMOS
3 LPP - Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas
4 LGPM - Laboratoire de Génie des Procédés et Matériaux - EA 4038

Observations by the Cassini mission show the presence of aerosols in Titan's atmosphere. According to models, these aerosols should reside there during several years. A plasma reactor is used to simulate the production of aerosols in the upper atmosphere of Titan. Five productions of aerosols were carried out with different residence times in the plasma, corresponding to different stages of evolution. These analogues were then analyzed by electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy. Our results show that aerosols undergo morphological evolution in time. They grow and start forming aggregates at a certain stage. In addition, we also observed evolutions of the chemical functions present in the aerosols of different formation times.

Domaines: Planète et Univers [physics]

Zoé Perrin, Audrey Chatain, Nathalie Ruscassier, Ludovic Vettier. Analogues of Titan's aerosols: the different steps of formation in a N₂-CH₄ plasma. EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2019, Sep 2019, Geneva, Switzerland. pp.EPSC-DPS2019-2035. ⟨insu-02292396⟩