Roadmap on carbon molecular nanostructures in space
Journal article, 2025
In this roadmap article, we consider the main challenges and recent breakthroughs in understanding the role of carbon molecular nanostructures in space and propose future avenues of research. The focus lies on small carbon-containing molecules up to fullerenes, extending to even larger, more complex organic species. The roadmap contains forty contributions from scientists with leading expertize in observational astronomy, laboratory astrophysics/chemistry, astrobiology, theoretical chemistry, synthetic chemistry, molecular reaction dynamics, material science, spectroscopy, graph theory, and data science. The concerted interdisciplinary combination of the state-of-the-art of these astronomical, laboratory, and theoretical studies opens up new ways to advance the fundamental understanding of the physics and chemistry of cosmic carbon molecular nanostructures and touches on their wider relevance and impact in nanotechnology and catalysis.
Author
Klavs Hansen
Tianjin University
D. A. García-Hernández
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
University of La Laguna
Eleanor E.B. Campbell
University of Edinburgh
Ewha Womans University
Dogan Erbahar
Doğuş University
Alicja Domaracka
ENSICAEN Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Ingenieurs de Caen
Cornelia Jäger
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
C. Ewels
Jean Rouxel Institute of Materials
Polona Umek
Jozef Stefan Institute
S. Kwok
University of British Columbia (UBC)
The University of Hong Kong
Els Peeters
Western University
SETI Institute
Jan Cami
Western University
SETI Institute
G. C. Sloan
Leiden University
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
P. Ehrenfreund
Leiden University
H. Linnartz
Leiden University
Arturo Manchado
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
University of La Laguna
N. L. J. Cox
Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur
J. Bernard-Salas
Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur
E. K. Campbell
University of Edinburgh
Ana Monreal-Ibero
Leiden University
B. H. Foing
Leiden University
J. Smoker
European Southern Observatory Santiago
Meriem Elyajouri
Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale
A. Ebenbichler
University of Innsbruck
J. T. van Loon
Keele University
J. Bouwman
University of Colorado
A. Farhang
Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM)
Farid Salama
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
C. Joblin
Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP)
Giacomo Mulas
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Ugo Jacovella
University Paris-Saclay
M.A. Gómez-Muñoz
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
University of La Laguna
R. Barzaga
University of La Laguna
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
T. Huertas-Roldán
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
University of La Laguna
Hugh Mohan
Dublin City University
Michał Bartkowski
Dublin City University
Silvia Giordani
Dublin City University
Gao Lei Hou
Xi'an Jiaotong University
J. J. Díaz-Luis
Spanish National Observatory (OAN)
J. Alcolea
Spanish National Observatory (OAN)
Daniel Tafoya
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Onsala Space Observatory
V. Bujarrabal
Spanish National Observatory (OAN)
N. Došlić
Ruder Boskovic Institute
T. Došlić
University of Zagreb
E. Catalano
University of Oslo
M. Yesiltas
Stony Brook University
P. Ferrari
Radboud University
S. Brünken
Radboud University
G. Berden
Radboud University
J. M. Bakker
Radboud University
J. Oomens
Radboud University
B. Redlich
Radboud University
A. Pitanti
University of Pisa
B. Bertoni
University of Pisa
L. Vicarelli
University of Pisa
P. Lamberti
University of Salerno
M. Cojocari
University of Eastern Finland
G. Fedorov
University of Eastern Finland
Yuri Svirko
University of Eastern Finland
P. Kuzhir
University of Eastern Finland
M. Hochlaf
Université Gustave Eiffel
M. Mogren Al Mogren
King Saud University
Alexey Potapov
Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Eftal Gezer
Gebze Institute of Technology (GYTE)
H. Zettergren
Stockholm University
H. T. Schmidt
Stockholm University
M. H. Stockett
Stockholm University
Eleanor K. Ashworth
Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
James N. Bull
Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
M. Farník
Czech Academy of Sciences
T. Wakabayashi
Kindai University
L. Ganner
University of Innsbruck
M. Kappe
University of Innsbruck
E. Gruber
University of Innsbruck
C. Pardanaud
Physique des Interactions Ioniques et Moleculaires
J. Dezalay
Physique des Interactions Ioniques et Moleculaires
J. A. Noble
Physique des Interactions Ioniques et Moleculaires
K. Tőkési
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Z. Li
University of Science and Technology of China
X. H. Zhou
University of Science and Technology of China
J. M. Gong
University of Science and Technology of China
R. G. Zeng
China Academy of Engineering Physics
Z. J. Ding
University of Science and Technology of China
Clayton S.C. Yang
Brimrose Corporation
Feng Jin
Brimrose Corporation
Sudhir Trivedi
Brimrose Corporation
Uwe Hommerich
Hampton University
Laszlo Nemes
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Alan C. Samuels
United States Army Combat Capabilities Development Command
G. Shmavonyan
National Polytechnic University of Armenia
L. Misakyan
National Polytechnic University of Armenia
A. Shmavonyan
National Polytechnic University of Armenia
Yerevan State University
I. Sciriha
University of Malta
S. Suriyaprasanth
VIT University
Dhanoj Gupta
VIT University
D. A. Kalchevski
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
D. Trifonov
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
S. Kolev
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
T. Milenov
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Miguel A. Caro
Aalto University
Seyed Abdolreza Sadjadi
The University of Hong Kong
European Physical Journal D
14346060 (ISSN) 14346079 (eISSN)
Vol. 79 8 94Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Theoretical Chemistry
Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Cosmology
DOI
10.1140/epjd/s10053-025-00984-1