CAB Seminar on Thursday 30th of April at 12:00 (CEST) by Andrés Megías (CAB)

[Comisión de Seminarios]

 

 

 

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CAB SEMINARS

                               Gas and ice astrochemistry of precursors of planetary systems                                  

Andrés Megías (CAB), CSIC-INTA

Thursday, 30th April 2026, 12:00 (CEST) (Auditorio/Zoom)

 

Starless and prestellar cores, located inside giant molecular clouds, are the very first stages in the formation of low-mass stars and of their subsequent planetary systems, like our Solar system. In this talk, we will explore the level of chemical complexity found in these objects –from their earlier stages in molecular clouds to starless and prestellar cores–, focusing on interstellar complex organic molecules (COMs). These molecules are relevant for the formation of prebiotic molecules, believed to be the precursors of life as we know it on Earth. The chemistry at these stages is relevant due to the possible chemical inheritance first to planetesimals and cometesimals and then to the final planetary system, given that complex organics such as amino acids have been found in bodies of our Solar system like meteorites, asteroids Ryugu and Bennu and comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. For doing these studies, we use radio astronomical observations, to detect gas-phase chemical species in the interstellar medium, and infrared absorption spectra, to observe solid-phase species in the icy layers of interstellar dust grains. I will first present radio astronomical observations of the emission of COMs toward the starless core L1517B, and compare the results with other observations of the starless core L1498, the prestellar core L1544, and the starless core L1521E. Then, I will present a machine learning tool that analyses infrared absorption spectra and predicts the ice major composition and its temperature, showing a test case of observations made by James Webb Space Telescope.

 

Join zoom meeting at: https://rediris.zoom.us/j/85134397594?pwd=Sms4OUdSWmdocGh3R1dwU1NJaWk2Zz09

Meeting ID: 851 3439 7594
Passcode: 125143

Previous seminars can be found at CAB YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/CentrodeAstrobiologia

 

A full list of seminars in our webpage: https://cab.inta-csic.es/formacion/seminarios

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CAB SEMINARS

From Water Contaminants to Prebiotic Chemistry: COF-Based Adsorbents and Hybrid Nanocomposites for Earth and Space Applications                              

Dr. Bernardo A. Nogueira (International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory), Portugal

Thursday, 14th May 2026, 12:00 (CEST) (Auditorio/Zoom)

 

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs), first reported by Yaghi et al. in 2005, are promising crystalline nanoporous adsorbent materials characterized by high surface areas and tuneable pore sizes and functional groups. The precise control over pore properties makes COFs highly specialized platforms for a wide-range of adsorption-based applications. At Espiña’s Research Group at INL (International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory), COF-metal nanoparticle composites have been developed for use as sensing materials in Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS). Aligned with the research group’s motto, “Nanotechnology for a Safe and Sustainable use of Water Resources”, these sensing materials are being designed for the detection of water contaminants such as antibiotics, pesticides and biotoxins. Their performance relies on the semi-selective adsorption capabilities of COFs combined with the plasmonic properties of metal nanoparticles, enabling trace-level detection of relevant molecules by SERS.
Recently, we designed a research project that leverages these capabilities to explore questions related to the origin of life. The goal is to develop COF-based composites specifically engineered to detect key prebiotic molecules in space environments, particularly within the ice sheets and subsurface oceans of Mars and the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn during future space missions. This project, prepared in collaboration with the Biomolecules in Planetary Exploration Group at the Centro de Astrobiología, will be presented in this seminar. Its objectives include the development and optimization of SERS substrates for identifying trace levels of selected bioprecursors (e.g. amino acids, small peptides, amines, carboxylic acids, fatty acids, among others) in water and ice samples; the construction of a SERS database for molecular precursors of life; and the validation of the technology for astrobiological applications, ultimately aiming to design a prototype for testing the technology in polar expeditions.