Lightning-driven plasma bubbles provide prebiotic synthesis and biogeochemical cycling

Dingwei Gan; Longfei Hong; Xiaofan Guo; Haoxuan Jiang; Santu Luo; Tianqi Zhang; Jianxi Ying; Rusen Zhou; Dingxin Liu; H. James Cleaves; Yufen Zhao; Renwu Zhou

doi:10.1039/D5CC04325E

Lightning-driven plasma bubbles provide prebiotic synthesis and biogeochemical cycling

Dingwei Gan,

^a Longfei Hong,^a Xiaofan Guo,^b Haoxuan Jiang,^a Santu Luo,^a Tianqi Zhang,*^c Jianxi Ying,

*^b Rusen Zhou,^a Dingxin Liu,^a H. James Cleaves,^d Yufen Zhao

^b and Renwu Zhou

*^a

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Centre for Plasma Biomedicine, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
E-mail: renwu.zhou@xjtu.edu.cn

^b Qian Xuesen Collaborative Research Center of Astrochemistry and Space Life Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
E-mail: yingjianxi@nbu.edu.cn

^c School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
E-mail: Tianqi.zhang@sydney.edu.au

^d Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC 20015, USA

Abstract

Lightning–sea interactions generate plasma bubbles that act as electrochemical reactors, producing amino acids, nucleobases, and peptides with yields 100–300% higher than spark discharges. This process accelerates carbon-nitrogen coupling and enhances biogeochemical cycling, linking CO₂ and NH₃ to bioavailable organic compounds.

Chemical Communications

Lightning-driven plasma bubbles provide prebiotic synthesis and biogeochemical cycling

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Lightning-driven plasma bubbles provide prebiotic synthesis and biogeochemical cycling

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