Heterogeneous photo catalysis and biogenesis on Earth

An ocean traveler has even more vividly the impression that the ocean is made of waves 

Semiconductors are considered to be catalytic particles that contributed to the development of primitive metabolism. According to Wahtershauser life could have developed on the surface of iron sulphide minerals (eg mackinawite or pyrrhotite [FeS] or pyrite [FeS2]) [8], The chemoautotrophy theory is based on the reaction between iron sulphide and hydrogen sulphide, which acts as a reducing agent, whereas iron sulphide provides adsorption sites for substrates and acts as a catalyst (equation 10.1)  

Bioinorganic Photochemistry Grazyna Stochel, Malgorzata Brindell, Wojciech Macyk, Zofia Stasicka, Konrad Szacilowski 2009 Grazyna Stochel, Malgorzata Brindell, Wojciech Macyk, Zofia Stasicka, Konrad Szacilowski. ISBN 978-1-405-16172-5 

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