Laboratory Astrochemistry: Conversion of Methanol to Hydrocarbon Compounds over Dust Grains

Interstellar dust grains play a central role in astrophysics and astrochemistry when investigating the formation of interstellar medium and evolution of stars. Olivine is a major component of dust grains. Methanol is also found in interstellar space. Our ongoing experimental study use MPI/TOF-MS to mimic the outer-space environment and study the heterogeneous catalytic reaction of methanol over olivine family. On this basis, the theoretical computation would help us probe into the underlying mechanism of this reaction.