Divita Gupta

• PhD
• Postdoctoral researcher at University of Cologne

Methanol (CH3OH) is considered by astronomers to be the simplest complex organic molecule (COM) and has been detected in various astrophysical environments, including protoplanetary disks, comets, and the interstellar medium (ISM). Studying the reactivity of methanol at low temperatures will aid our understanding of the formation of other complex,...

The low-temperature reaction between CN and benzene (C₆H₆) is of significant interest in the astrochemical community due to the recent detection of benzonitrile, the first aromatic molecule identified in the interstellar medium (ISM) using radio astronomy. Benzonitrile is suggested to be a low-temperature proxy for benzene, one of the simplest arom...

HCN and its unstable isomer HNC are widely observed throughout the interstellar medium, with the HNC/HCN abundance ratio correlating strongly with temperature. In very cold environments HNC can even appear more abundant than HCN. Here we use a chirped pulse Fourier transform spectrometer to measure the pressure broadening of HCN and HNC, simultaneo...

Applying a novel action spectroscopic technique in a 4 K cryogenic ion-trap instrument, the molecule c-C3H2D+ has been investigated by high-resolution rovibrational and pure rotational spectroscopy for the first time. In total, 126 rovibrational transitions within the fundamental band of the ν1 symmetric C-H stretch were measured with a band origin...

Experimental studies of the products of elementary gas-phase chemical reactions occurring at low temperatures (<50 K) are very scarce, but of importance for fundamental studies of reaction dynamics, comparisons with high-level quantum dynamical calculations, and, in particular, for providing data for the modeling of cold astrophysical environments,...

The Faraday Discussion 'Astrochemistry at high resolution' was held at the Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, United States, and online from May 31-June 2, 2023. The meeting brought together observers, modellers, and experimentalists at different career stages and from different countries to discuss advancements in astrochemistry resulti...

The antisymmetric C–H stretching vibration ν3 (2Π←2Π) of ionised acetylene, C2H2+, has been revisited using a cryogenic 22-pole ion trap machine. Two action spectroscopic techniques, the novel leak-out spectroscopy (LOS) method and the more established laser-induced reactions (LIR) method, are applied and compared. Mass selectivity and cryogenic te...

Based on a novel laboratory method, 14 millimeter-wave lines of the molecular ion H 2 CCCH ⁺ have been measured in high resolution, and the spectroscopic constants of this asymmetric rotor determined with high accuracy. Using the Yebes 40 m and IRAM 30 m radio telescopes, we detected four lines of H 2 CCCH ⁺ toward the cold dense core TMC-1. With a...

Based on a novel laboratory method, 14 mm-wave lines of the molecular ion H$_2$CCCH$^+$ have been measured in high resolution, and the spectroscopic constants of this asymmetric rotor determined with high accuracy. Using the Yebes 40 m and IRAM 30 m radio telescopes, we detect four lines of H$_2$CCCH$^+$ towards the cold dense core TMC-1. With a di...

In our quest for the presence of large complex molecules containing a majority of carbon in the interstellar medium (ISM), the search for graphene plays a central role due to its nature in making other carbon structures. Although the ingredients for graphene synthesis are present in the ISM, conclusive laboratory evidence of such formation is lacki...

We present laboratory rotational spectroscopy of five isomers of cyanoindene (2-, 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-cyanoindene) using a cavity Fourier transform microwave spectrometer operating between 6 and 40 GHz. Based on these measurements, we report the detection of 2-cyanoindene (1H-indene-2-carbonitrile; 2- C 9 H 7 CN ) in GOTHAM line survey observations o...

We present laboratory rotational spectroscopy of five isomers of cyanoindene (2-, 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-cyanoindene) using a cavity Fourier-transform microwave spectrometer operating between 6-40 GHz. Based on these measurements, we report the detection of 2-cyanoindene (1H-indene-2-carbonitrile; 2-C$_9$H$_7$CN) in GOTHAM line survey observations of th...

The recent discovery of hydroxylamine (NH2OH) molecule in the interstellar medium emphasizes the need to study the molecule in laboratory astrochemical ice analogues. Here, we present the first vacuum ultraviolet photoabsorption spectrum of hydroxylamine ice synthesized in-situ in an ammonia–oxygen (6:1) ice mixture irradiated by ~ 10 eV photons fr...

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology is considered one of the renewable sources of energy for the production of bioelectricity from waste. Due to the depletion of fossil fuels and environmental considerations, MFC haa garnered increasing importance as it is a sustainable and environmentally-friendly method of generation of bioenergy. In MFC, electr...

Des études en laboratoire à basse température pour explorer des réactions impliquant le radical CN,d’intérêt astrochimique ont été réalisées en utilisant la technique CRESU couplée aux technique de photolyse par laser pulsée - fluorescence induite par laser et spectroscopie micro-ondes à transformée de Fourier à impulsions chirpé. Les coefficients...

CN is known for its fast reactions with hydrocarbons at low temperatures, but relatively few studies have focused on the reactions between CN and aromatic molecules. The recent detection of benzonitrile in the interstellar medium, believed to be produced by the reaction of CN and benzene, has ignited interest in studying these reactions. Here, we r...

Icy mantles of benzonitrile, an aromatic with a cyanide side chain that has recently been detected in the interstellar medium, were subjected to vacuum ultraviolet photon irradiation and found to form a residue. The residue was removed from the substrate and placed on a Quantifoil grid for electron microscopy analysis. Transmission electron microsc...

Product channel-specific reaction kinetics at low temperature presents a significant challenge for both experiment and theory but provides essential inputs for astrochemical models of cold interstellar environments. Reaction kinetics studies using chirped pulse Fourier transform microwave (CP-FTMW) spectroscopy provide a potential solution but requ...

The low-temperature reaction between CN and benzene (C 6 H 6 ) is of significant interest in the astrochemical community due to the recent detection of benzonitrile, the first aromatic molecule identified in the interstellar medium (ISM) using radio astronomy. Benzonitrile is suggested to be a low-temperature proxy for benzene, one of the simplest...

The low temperature reaction between CN and benzene (C$_6$H$_6$) is of significant interest in the astrochemical community due to the recent detection of benzonitrile, the first aromatic molecule identified in the interstellar medium (ISM) using radio astronomy. Benzonitrile is suggested to be a low temperature proxy for benzene, one of the simples...