Laser-driven shock compression of "synthetic planetary mixtures" of water, ethanol, and ammonia.

ABSTRACT: Water, methane, and ammonia are commonly considered to be the key components of the interiors of Uranus and Neptune. Modelling the planets' internal structure, evolution, and dynamo heavily relies on the properties of the complex mixtures with uncertain exact composition in their deep interiors. Therefore, characterising icy mixtures with varying composition at planetary conditions of several hundred gigapascal and a few thousand Kelvin is crucial to improve our understanding of the ice giants. In this work, pure water, a water-ethanol mixture, and a water-ethanol-ammonia "synthetic planetary mixture" (SPM) have been compressed through laser-driven decaying shocks along their principal Hugoniot curves up to 270, 280, and 260 GPa, respectively. Measured temperatures spanned from 4000 to 250

SUBMITTER: Guarguaglini M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6626017 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature