Electrochemical Oxidation of Ammonia on Platinum (100) Nanoparticles at the International Space Station

Abstract

Experiments in microgravity environment are used as step forward for increasing the technology readiness level for further long term space missions. This project is geared towards studying the microgravity effects on nanoscale mixing of a diffusion-limited process using electrochemical electrodes in transient conditions at the International Space Station (ISS). Previous experiments conducted by this group in parabolic flights led to a decrease in catalytic current of 20-65% under microgravity conditions. This reduction in catalytic current is believed to occur due to the lack of buoyancy driven mixing at the solution-electrode interface. The objective of this project is to compare the electrochemical oxidation of ammonia in a non gravity environment with the same reaction on Earth. This project will evaluate the ammonia oxidation by performing twelve electrochemical experiments in two ammonia containments with six electrochemical cells. (100) platinum nanoparticles will be used as working electrode to perform cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry experiments. The electrochemical cells with an autonomous potentiostat will be send to the ISS inside a 2U Nanoracks module. Our group is developing the required hardware for the experiments to be deployed to the ISS following all strict NASA specifications for flight. Acknowledgment: NASA-EPSCoR-ISS.