化学学报 ›› 2026, Vol. 84 ›› Issue (2): 257-263.DOI: 10.6023/A25090309 上一篇    下一篇

研究评论

等离子体放电在生命化学起源中的研究进展

甘定伟a, 周儒森a, 应见喜b,*(), 周仁武a,*()   

  1. a 西安交通大学 电工材料电气绝缘全国重点实验室 电工材料电气绝缘全国重点实验室 西安 710049
    b 宁波大学 新药技术研究院 新药技术研究院 宁波 315211
  • 投稿日期:2025-09-12 发布日期:2025-10-14
  • 作者简介:

    甘定伟, 西安交通大学在读博士研究生, 中国化学会会员、中国空间科学学会、国际深空探测学会学生会员, 于2023年宁波大学获得工学硕士学位, 目前在西安交通大学攻读博士学位, 研究方向为等离子体化学与生命起源. 主持国家自然科学基金青年学生基础研究项目(博士研究生). 已在 Earth. Planet. Sci. Lett., Adv. Sci., Green Chem., Chem. Commun.等期刊累计发表SCI论文15篇, 其中第一作者发表7篇, 入选封面论文1篇, H指数6, 申请国家发明专利2项.

    周儒森, 西安交通大学电气工程学院特聘研究员、副教授, 博士生导师, 西安交通大学青年拔尖人才, 研究方向为气液放电、功能生物材料制备与改性等, 2021年2月于澳大利亚昆士兰科技大学获电气工程博士学位. 2021年3月至2024年1月历任澳大利亚悉尼大学博士后、研究员, 以第一/通讯作者在 J. Am. Chem. Soc., Carbon Energy, J. Energy Chem., Energy Convers. Manage., Green Chem., Appl. Phys. Lett., J. Phys. D Appl. Phys.等期刊发表SCI论文20余篇, SCI他引2000余次, H指数24; 累积入选ESI高被引论文6篇, 热点论文1篇.

    应见喜, 宁波大学新药技术研究院研究员, 硕士生导师, 现任中国空间科学学会生命起源与进化专委会青年委员及秘书长. 于2018年7月获得化学生物学博士学位. 2018年11月, 加入宁波大学新药技术研究院, 主要从事生命化学起源, 天体生物学等研究工作. 先后在 Earth. Planet. Sci. Lett., Chem. Commun., Chin. Chem. Lett., Chin. J. Chem.等国内外期刊发表学术论文20余篇, 获得中国授权发明专利2项. 从2018年以来先后承担国家自然科学基金、中科院空间科学与应用总体部项目子课题、省部重点实验室基金和宁波市基金等9项科研任务.

    周仁武, 教授, 国家高层次人才青年计划入选者. 研究方向为等离子体能源转化, 等离子体氮化学与生命起源等. 于2019年澳大利亚昆士兰科技大学获电气工程博士学位. 担任Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering客座主编、Nano-Micro Lett., Eco-Energy等期刊青年编委及Sci. Adv.等期刊审稿人. 主持国家高层次人才青年项目、国家自然科学基金面上项目等科研项目, 以第一/通讯作者在Adv. Mater.‌, JACS, Green Chem.等期刊上发表SCI论文60余篇, 入选ESI高被引论文10篇, 热点论文1篇, SCI他引6000余次. 授权中国发明专利5项和申请国际专利4项, 2022~2024年入选美国斯坦福大学发布的“全球前2%科学家榜单”. 指导学生获得首届IOP Publishing中国区高被引作者奖、国际权威期刊亮点论文奖等.

  • 基金资助:
    国家自然科学基金青年学生基础研究项目(524B2109); 国家自然科学基金面上项目(52377160)

Research Progress of Plasma Discharge in the Chemical Evolution of Life

Dingwei Gana, Rusen Zhoua, Jianxi Yingb,*(), Renwu Zhoua,*()   

  1. a State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China
    b Institute of Drug Discovery Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211
  • Received:2025-09-12 Published:2025-10-14
  • Contact: *E-mail: yingjianxi@nbu.edu.cn;renwu.zhou@xjtu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China (Youth Student Basic Research Program)(524B2109); National Natural Science Foundation of China (General Program)(52377160)

生命的起源和演化是人类面临的终极谜题之一. 传统化学起源学说涉及惰性气体分子活化、简单分子向复杂功能分子演化、生物分子同手性以及遗传密码起源等关键问题. “米勒-尤里”放电实验以来, “等离子体放电”被认为是生命分子起源的可能场景之一. 等离子体作为一种非平衡态的高能环境, 可通过高能电子、离子和自由基等活性物种驱动分子裂解与重组, 为复杂有机分子的形成、分子复杂化等过程提供重要的物理化学基础. 此外, 特定的物理化学界面(如气液界面)可为等离子体场景下分子的富集、组装等提供关键微环境. 本文综述了等离子体放电在生命化学起源中的研究进展, 旨在为探索生命起源的复杂化学过程提供新的研究视角.

关键词: 等离子体, 生命起源, 前生命化学, 同手性起源, 气液放电

Origin and evolution of life are among humanity’s ultimate enigmas. Classical chemical-origin hypotheses confront several key challenges, including the activation of chemically inert molecular gases, the transformation of simple molecules into complex functional ones, the emergence of biomolecular homochirality, and the origin of the genetic code. Since the pioneering Miller-Urey discharge experiment, plasma discharges have been regarded as one plausible setting for the emergence of life’s molecules. As a high-energy, non-equilibrium environment, plasma can drive molecular fragmentation and recombination through reactive species such as energetic electrons, ions, and radicals, thereby providing crucial physicochemical underpinnings for the formation of complex organic molecules and the progressive increase of molecular complexity. Recent decades have witnessed significant advances in this field. Laboratory simulations have shown that plasma discharges in N2-CH4 or CO-H2 atmospheres can efficiently generate hydrogen cyanide, formaldehyde, and other small molecules that serve as precursors of amino acids, nucleobases, and sugars. Beyond monomer synthesis, plasma environments have been found to promote polymerization reactions leading to oligopeptides and nucleic acid fragments, demonstrating a feasible route from simple molecules to biopolymers. Moreover, plasma-driven chemistry at interfaces such as microdroplets, aerosols, and underwater bubbles provides unique microenvironments that concentrate reactants and stabilize products, thereby facilitating molecular assembly and enhancing the plausibility of prebiotic reactions. Plasma studies have also offered insights into fundamental questions such as the origin of homochirality. Experimental evidence indicates that asymmetric reaction pathways may be favored under plasma irradiation when combined with mineral surfaces or circularly polarized light, suggesting possible mechanisms for chiral selection. Furthermore, coupling plasma discharge with catalytic platforms or microfluidic devices has recently emerged as a promising direction, allowing controlled studies across scales that mimic primitive Earth environments. This review summarizes the state of the art in plasma-based prebiotic chemistry, highlights key challenges including reproducibility, selectivity, and integration with geological settings, and outlines future perspectives. We propose that interdisciplinary approaches—combining plasma physics, geochemistry, catalysis, and space chemistry—will be essential to unravel how plasma contributed to the chemical origins of life. Such studies not only enrich our understanding of life’s beginnings on Earth but may also provide new frameworks for assessing the potential for life in extraterrestrial environments such as Titan or exoplanetary atmospheres.

Key words: plasma, origin of life, prebiotic chemistry, origin of homochirality, gas-liquid discharge