Regolith-based magnesium oxychloride composites doped by graphene: Novel high-performance building materials for lunar constructions

Abstract

In our study, we demonstrated a novel approach in the field of lunar construction materials. The prepared composite materials are based on magnesium oxychloride cement (MOC), which is currently broadly studied and is coming back to the foreground as an ecological alternative to commonly used building materials. To improve the properties of the matrix, graphene was used as an additive. The addition of graphene has previously shown enormous improvement of the mechanical properties of MOC. As a filler, the regolith simulant in the form of powder was used in a high percentage in order to reduce the amount of imported raw materials. The prepared samples were characterized by a wide range of analytical methods, identifying the phase and chemical composition, microstructure, mechanical properties and other. To evaluate the endurance of the materials, they were subjected to thermal treatment simulating the conditions on the Moon. The mechanical properties were only slightly reduced after the thermal treatment even for the samples with a very high content of regolith. The compressive strength reached an unbelievably high value of 67 MPa for the sample with 50 wt% of regolith. The prepared composite materials show the application potential for the lunar infrastructure constructions.