Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is an international journal which publishes papers on all aspects of astronomy and astrophysics

The organization of disordered carbons at the nanometer scale, or nanostructure, reveals very precisely their formation conditions, either in Nature or in the laboratory or in industry. Its study allows a better understanding of the properties of such solids. Only High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) allows a direct imaging of the nanostructure, whereas Raman microspectrometry provides quantitative but averaged structural data. Applications of the original coupling of Raman with HRTEM, especially in the fields of Energy and Environment, are numerous and promising. Two examples are given concerning the decontamination of irradiated nuclear graphite waste and detection of hydrocarbons trapped in oil and gas shales. Moreover, the study of wood carbonization led our team to propose a novel Raman-based paleothermometer. This approach finds an unexpected application in archeology (e.g., the study of fire marks in prehistoric caves).

Context.UltraCarbonaceous Antarctic MicroMeteorites (UCAMMs) represent a small fraction of interplanetary dust particles reaching the Earth’s surface and contain large amounts of an organic component not found elsewhere. They are most probably sampling a contribution from the outer regions of the solar system to the local interplanetary dust particle (IDP) flux.Aims.We characterize UCAMMs composition focusing on the organic matter, and compare the results to the insoluble organic matter (IOM) from primitive meteorites, IDPs, and the Earth.Methods.We acquired synchrotron infrared microspectroscopy (μFTIR) andμRaman spectra of eight UCAMMs from the Concordia/CSNSM collection, as well as N/C atomic ratios determined with an electron microprobe.Results.The spectra are dominated by an organic component with a low aliphatic CH versus aromatic C=C ratio, and a higher nitrogen fraction and lower oxygen fraction compared to carbonaceous chondrites and IDPs. The UCAMMs carbonyl absorption band is in agreement with a ketone or aldehyde functional group. Some of the IR and Raman spectra show a C≡N band corresponding to a nitrile. The absorption band profile from 1400 to 1100 cm^-1is compatible with the presence of C-N bondings in the carbonaceous network, and is spectrally different from that reported in meteorite IOM. We confirm that the silicate-to-carbon content in UCAMMs is well below that reported in IDPs and meteorites. Together with the high nitrogen abundance relative to carbon building the organic matter matrix, the most likely scenario for the formation of UCAMMs occurs via physicochemical mechanisms taking place in a cold nitrogen rich environment, like the surface of icy parent bodies in the outer solar system. The composition of UCAMMs provides an additional hint of the presence of a heliocentric positive gradient in the C/Si and N/C abundance ratios in the solar system protoplanetary disc evolution.