New Way to Produce Hydrogen Peroxide Through Combination of Rocks Produced by Tectonic Movement, Hot Temperature Discovered

Newcastle University researchers have found an oxygen source that may have influenced the evolution of life before photosynthesis. The ground-breaking study, conducted by Newcastle University's School of Natural and Environmental Sciences and reported in Nature Communications, revealed a mechanism for how geological fault movement can cause rocks to produce hydrogen peroxide.

Modern Production of Hydrogen Peroxide

The Cleaveland Clinic defined hydrogen peroxide as water with an extra oxygen molecule. The extra oxygen molecule oxidizes, which is how peroxide derives its power. The oxidation process bleaches color from permeable materials like fabrics and destroys bacteria.

According to the article published by Carnegie Mellon University, hydrogen peroxide is produced using the anthraquinone method, which is energy-intensive. It requires large-scale production and produces a significant quantity of carbon dioxide as a byproduct. Although it would be ideal to combine hydrogen and oxygen to produce hydrogen peroxide directly. Thermodynamics favors the formation of more stable water.

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Ancient Method of Producing Hydrogen Peroxide

Prior to the development of photosynthesis, scientists believed that the additional supply of oxygen may have influenced the early evolution, and possibly even the origin, of life in hot settings on the early Earth.

In tectonically active areas, the movement of the Earth's crust causes not just earthquakes but also fissures and cracks in the subsurface bordered by highly reactive rock surfaces with many flaws. The flaws in the newly split rock can then filter down and interact with the water.

Jordan Stone, a master's student, reproduced these conditions by shattering the granite, basalt, and peridotite rock types that would have made up the early Earth's crust in the laboratory. Then, under perfectly controlled oxygen-free conditions, they were added to water at various temperatures.

According to the research results, significant volumes of hydrogen peroxide and, possibly, oxygen was only produced at temperatures just below the boiling point of water. The temperature at which hydrogen peroxide is formed matches the growth ranges of the heat-loving bacteria, called hyperthermophiles, including oxygen-using ancient microbes close to the base of the Universal Tree of Life.

Stone, who conducted this research as part of his MRes in Environmental Geoscience, claims that this is the first study to show the vital importance of hot temperatures in boosting hydrogen peroxide formation. Previous studies have revealed that straining or crushing rocks without oxygen can produce minute amounts of hydrogen peroxide and other oxidants.

According to the lead researcher, Dr. Jon Telling, Senior Lecturer, all the mechanochemical reactions required to produce hydrogen peroxide and, subsequently, oxygen is water, crushed rocks, and high temperatures, all of which were present on the early Earth before the evolution of photosynthesis and may have affected the findings.

The UK Space Agency and the Natural Environmental Research Council provided the funding for the project. A substantial new follow-up investigation led by Dr. Jon Telling and supported by NERC is currently underway to determine the importance of the mechanism.