000109419 001__ 109419 000109419 005__ 20230519145512.0 000109419 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.1038/s41467-021-26184-0 000109419 0248_ $$2sideral$$a125470 000109419 037__ $$aART-2021-125470 000109419 041__ $$aeng 000109419 100__ $$aMartínez, L. 000109419 245__ $$aMetal-catalyst-free gas-phase synthesis of long-chain hydrocarbons 000109419 260__ $$c2021 000109419 5060_ $$aAccess copy available to the general public$$fUnrestricted 000109419 5203_ $$aDevelopment of sustainable processes for hydrocarbons synthesis is a fundamental challenge in chemistry since these are of unquestionable importance for the production of many essential synthetic chemicals, materials and carbon-based fuels. Current industrial processes rely on non-abundant metal catalysts, temperatures of hundreds of Celsius and pressures of tens of bars. We propose an alternative gas phase process under mild reaction conditions using only atomic carbon, molecular hydrogen and an inert carrier gas. We demonstrate that the presence of CH2 and H radicals leads to efficient C-C chain growth, producing micron-length fibres of unbranched alkanes with an average length distribution between C23-C33. Ab-initio calculations uncover a thermodynamically favourable methylene coupling process on the surface of carbonaceous nanoparticles, which is kinematically facilitated by a trap-and-release mechanism of the reactants and nanoparticles that is confirmed by a steady incompressible flow simulation. This work could lead to future alternative sustainable synthetic routes to critical alkane-based chemicals or fuels. 000109419 536__ $$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA-FSE/E13-20R$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/610256/EU/Gas and Dust from the Stars to the Laboratory: Exploring the NanoCosmos/NANOCOSMOS$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/648319/EU/Hybrid Materials for Artificial Photosynthesis/HyMAP$$9This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No H2020 648319-HyMAP$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/RYC-2018-024561-I$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/PID2019--106315RB-I00$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/PID2020-113142RB-C21$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/S2018-NMT-4367 000109419 540__ $$9info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess$$aby$$uhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ 000109419 590__ $$a17.694$$b2021 000109419 592__ $$a4.846$$b2021 000109419 594__ $$a23.2$$b2021 000109419 591__ $$aMULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES$$b6 / 74 = 0.081$$c2021$$dQ1$$eT1 000109419 593__ $$aChemistry (miscellaneous)$$c2021$$dQ1 000109419 593__ $$aBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (miscellaneous)$$c2021$$dQ1 000109419 655_4 $$ainfo:eu-repo/semantics/article$$vinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 000109419 700__ $$aMerino, P. 000109419 700__ $$aSantoro, G. 000109419 700__ $$aMartínez, J. I. 000109419 700__ $$aKatsanoulis, S. 000109419 700__ $$aAult, J. 000109419 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0002-5229-2717$$aMayoral, A.$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza 000109419 700__ $$aVázquez, L. 000109419 700__ $$aAccolla, M. 000109419 700__ $$aDazzi, A. 000109419 700__ $$aMathurin, J. 000109419 700__ $$aBorondics, F. 000109419 700__ $$aBlázquez-Blázquez, E. 000109419 700__ $$aShauloff, N. 000109419 700__ $$aLebrón-Aguilar, R. 000109419 700__ $$aQuintanilla-López, J. E. 000109419 700__ $$aJelinek, R. 000109419 700__ $$aCernicharo, J. 000109419 700__ $$aStone, H. A. 000109419 700__ $$ade la Peña O’Shea, V. A. 000109419 700__ $$ade Andres, P. L. 000109419 700__ $$aHaller, G. 000109419 700__ $$aEllis, G. J. 000109419 700__ $$aMartín-Gago, J. A. 000109419 7102_ $$12003$$2395$$aUniversidad de Zaragoza$$bDpto. Física Materia Condensa.$$cÁrea Física Materia Condensada 000109419 773__ $$g12, 1 (2021), [9 pp.]$$tNature communications$$x2041-1723 000109419 8564_ $$s3083156$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/109419/files/texto_completo.pdf$$yVersión publicada 000109419 8564_ $$s2164399$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/109419/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon$$xicon$$yVersión publicada 000109419 909CO $$ooai:zaguan.unizar.es:109419$$particulos$$pdriver 000109419 951__ $$a2023-05-18-15:12:14 000109419 980__ $$aARTICLE