Abstract
The development of an efficient process to simultaneously extract oxygen and metals from lunar regolith by way of in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU) has the potential to enable sustainable exploration beyond Earth. The Metalysis (FFC Cambridge) process can electrochemically reduce a wide range of metal oxides to produce metals and alloys for powdered metallurgy and additive manufacturing, with the co-generation of oxygen at the anode. In this talk, we will demonstrate proof-of-concept for the electro-deoxidation of powdered lunar regolith by a Metalysis-FFC approach to produce oxygen and metal alloys. The resulting metallic powder was found to contain only a very small percentage of oxygen (a portion of which was due to post electrolysis surface re-oxidation) and to consist primarily of Al/Fe(-Si), Fe/Si(-Ti/Al), and Ca/Si/Al(-Mg) alloys. The challenges and opportunities for the Metalysis-FFC process for lunar ISRU will be discussed in light of the results presented in this talk.
Accepted Version (
Free)
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call