Trapping and adsorption of CO2 in amorphous ice: A FTIR study

The interaction of carbon dioxide and amorphous water ice at 95 K is studied using transmission infrared spectroscopy. Samples are prepared in two ways: co-deposition of the gases admitted simultaneously or sequential deposition, in which amorphous water ice (ASW) is grown first and CO2 vapor is added subsequently. In either case, a fraction of the CO2 molecules is found to interact with water in a way that gives rise to shifts and splittings in the infrared bands with respect to those of a pure CO2 solid. In co-deposition experiments, a larger amount of carbon dioxide is trapped within the amorphous water than in sequential deposition samples, where a substantial proportion of molecules appears to be trapped in macropores of the ASW. The specific surface area of sequential samples is evaluated and compared to previous literature results. When the sequential samples are heated to 140 K, beyond the onset temperature at which water ice undergoes a phase transition, the CO2 molecules at the pores relocate inside the bulk in a structure similar to that found in co-deposited samples, as deduced by changes in the shape of the CO2 infrared bands.