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Three solid state formation routes have been proposed in the past to explain the observed abundance of water in space: the hydrogenation reaction channels of atomic oxygen (O + H), molecular oxygen (O2 + H), and ozone (O3 + H). New data are presented here for the third scheme with a focus on the reactions O3 + H, OH + H and OH + H2, which were difficult to quantify in previous studies. A comprehensive set of H/D-atom addition experiments is presented for astronomically relevant temperatures. Starting from the hydrogenation/deuteration of solid O3 ice, we find experimental evidence for H2O/D2O (and H2O2/D2O2) ice formation using reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy. The temperature and H/D-atom flux dependence are studied and this provides information on the mobility of ozone within the ice and possible isotope effects in the reaction scheme. The experiments show that the O3 + H channel takes place through stages that interact with the O and O2 hydrogenation reaction schemes. It is also found that the reaction OH + H2 (OH + H), as an intermediate step, plays a prominent (less efficient) role. The main conclusion is that solid O3 hydrogenation offers a potential reaction channel for the formation of water in space. Moreover, the nondetection of solid ozone in dense molecular clouds is consistent with the astrophysical picture in which O3 + H is an efficient process under interstellar conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a combined theoretical and experimental study of the adsorption of two pairs of organic isomers, (i) acetic acid AA (CH3COOH) and methyl formate MF (HCOOCH3), and (ii) ethanol EtOH (CH3CH2OH) and dimethyl ether DME (CH3OCH3), onto crystalline water ice surfaces at low temperatures. Both approaches show that, for each pair, the most stable isomer from a thermodynamical point of view, i.e. AA and EtOH, is also the one which is the more tightly bound to the water ice surface compared to the less stable isomers (MF and DME). This finding, which can be explained by the ability of AA or EtOH to efficiently interact with the ice surface via hydrogen bondings, may have important consequences in an astrophysical context, since it could explain why the most stable isomer is not the most abundant observed in the interstellar gas phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]