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Thermal decomposition behavior of potassium and sodium jarosite synthesized in the presence of methylamine and alanine

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Abstract

Biomolecules, methylamine and alanine, found associated with natural jarosite samples peaked the interest of astrobiologists and planetary geologists. How the biomolecules are associated with jarosite remains unclear although the mechanism could be important for detecting biosignatures in the rock record on Earth and other planets. A series of thermal gravimetric experiments using synthetic K-jarosite and Na-jarosite were conducted to determine if thermal analysis could differentiate physical mixtures of alanine and methylamine with jarosite from samples where the methylamine or alanine was incorporated into the synthesis procedure. Physical mixtures and synthetic experiments with methylamine and alanine could be differentiated from one another and from the standards by thermal analysis for both the K-jarosite and Na-jarosite end-member suites. Changes included shifts in on-set temperatures, total temperature changes from on-set to final, and the presence of indicator peaks for methylamine and alanine in the physical mixture experiments.

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Acknowledgements

Funding for this research at the University of Montana and the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) comes from the NASA exobiology program (NNX08AP59G). J.M.K. would like to thank the Inland Northwest Research Alliance for graduate support during this project. We would like to thank Christopher Orme of the INL for assistance with thermal analysis. Research performed at the INL under DOE/NE Idaho Operations Office Contract DE-AC07-05ID14517.

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Author notes

  1. J. Michelle Kotler

    Present address: North American Palladium, Metals Exploration Division, 556 Tenth Avenue, Thunder Bay, ON, P7B 2R2, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geosciences Department, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA

    J. Michelle Kotler, Nancy W. Hinman & C. Doc Richardson

  2. Chemical Sciences, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID, 83415, USA

    Jill R. Scott

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  1. J. Michelle Kotler
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  2. Nancy W. Hinman
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Correspondence to Nancy W. Hinman.

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Kotler, J.M., Hinman, N.W., Richardson, C.D. et al. Thermal decomposition behavior of potassium and sodium jarosite synthesized in the presence of methylamine and alanine. J Therm Anal Calorim 102, 23–29 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-009-0338-3

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