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Zhong Y, Low J, Zhu Q, Jiang Y, Yu X, Wang X, Zhang F, Shang W, Long R, Yao Y, Yao W, Jiang J, Luo Y, Wang W, Yang J, Zou Z, Xiong Y. In situ resource utilization of lunar soil for highly efficient extraterrestrial fuel and oxygen supply. Natl Sci Rev 2022; 10:nwac200. [PMID: 36817839 PMCID: PMC9935986 DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwac200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2022] [Revised: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 09/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Building up a lunar settlement is the ultimate aim of lunar exploitation. Yet, limited fuel and oxygen supplies restrict human survival on the Moon. Herein, we demonstrate the in situ resource utilization of lunar soil for extraterrestrial fuel and oxygen production, which may power up our solely natural satellite and supply respiratory gas. Specifically, the lunar soil is loaded with Cu species and employed for electrocatalytic CO2 conversion, demonstrating significant production of methane. In addition, the selected component in lunar soil (i.e. MgSiO3) loaded with Cu can reach a CH4 Faradaic efficiency of 72.05% with a CH4 production rate of 0.8 mL/min at 600 mA/cm2. Simultaneously, an O2 production rate of 2.3 mL/min can be achieved. Furthermore, we demonstrate that our developed process starting from catalyst preparation to electrocatalytic CO2 conversion is so accessible that it can be operated in an unmmaned manner via a robotic system. Such a highly efficient extraterrestrial fuel and oxygen production system is expected to push forward the development of mankind's civilization toward an extraterrestrial settlement.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Yawen Jiang
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, School of Information Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
| | - Xiwen Yu
- Eco-Materials and Renewable Energy Research Center (ERERC), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Nano Technology, National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
| | - Xinyu Wang
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, School of Information Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
| | - Fei Zhang
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, School of Information Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
| | - Weiwei Shang
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, School of Information Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
| | | | | | - Wei Yao
- Qian Xuesen Laboratory of Space Technology, China Academy of Space Technology, Beijing 100094, China
| | | | - Yi Luo
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, School of Information Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
| | - Weihua Wang
- Qian Xuesen Laboratory of Space Technology, China Academy of Space Technology, Beijing 100094, China
| | - Jinlong Yang
- Hefei National Research Center for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, School of Information Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
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