ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

A Supercritical Pathway for Biomimetic Membrane Formation in Extra-Terrestrial Environments

Abstract: Cell membranes are complex structures that are robust enough to withstand changes in temperature and pressure, yet are stable and flexible enough to cope with a vast library of cellular processes. However, the mild conditions on Earth - conditions where water is liquid and membranes can be thermally stable - are famously scarce in the vastness of space. Recent data collected by the Cassini-Huygens probe, and subsequently studied by computer modelling has shown that some nitrogen-containing ?tholin? molecules may be able to spontaneously form membrane-like structures in the cold liquid methane lakes on Titan, one of the moons of Saturn. In this experiment we will recreate this atmosphere at ISIS by cooling a tholin solution in supercritical methane to cryogenic temperatures, and probing the behaviour of these systems using neutron scattering.

Principal Investigator: Dr James Hallett
Experimenter: Mr Chris Goodway
Local Contact: Dr Sarah Rogers
Experimenter: Dr Oleg Kirichek
Experimenter: Professor Annela Seddon

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2420130

ISIS Experiment Number: RB2420130

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Dr James Hallett et al; (2024): A Supercritical Pathway for Biomimetic Membrane Formation in Extra-Terrestrial Environments, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2420130

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.