A novel strategy to extract lunar mare KREEP-rich metal resources using a silicon collector

The lunar mare potassium(K)-,rare-earth elements(REEs)-and phosphorous(P)-rich(KREEP-rich) region is a unique late-stage product of magma crystallization,in which ilmenite and incompatible elements have high grades,thus forming a giant natural reservoir.The extraction and purification of the high-value metal resources in the KREEP-rich region not only meet the construction needs of the lunar base but also solve the problem of resource scarcity on Earth.In this study,photovoltaic elemental silicon(Si) was used as a collector to extract ilmenite resources,REEs,and nuclear energy elements from basalt in the lunar mare KREEP-rich region at 1873 K.Based on experimentation,the metals titanium(Ti)and iron(Fe) in the lunar mare ilmenite are found to be enriched and solidified in the form of Si-based alloys.The contents of valuable incompatible elements in the KREEP-rich area are also found to be enriched and contained in the incompatible trace elements(ITEs) phase of the alloy.Among them,REEs(e.g.,cerium(Ce) and thulium(Tm)) and nuclear elements(e.g.,thorium(Th) and uranium(U)) are found to account for 82.61 wt% of the ITEs phase.This process provides a simple and feasible scheme for the insitu resource utilization(ISRU) of the lunar surface and is suitable for the extraction and enrichment of lunar metal resources.

3D-printed Lunar regolith simulant-based geopolymer composites with bio-inspired sandwich architectures

Over time,natural materials have evolved to be lightweight,high-strength,tough,and damage-tolerant due to their unique biological structures.Therefore,combining biological inspiration and structural design would provide traditional materials with a broader range of performance and applications.Here,the application of an ink-based three-dimensional(3D)printing strategy to the structural design of a Lunar regolith simulant-based geopolymer(HIT-LRS-1 GP)was first reported,and high-precision carbon fiber/quartz sand-reinforced biomimetic patterns inspired by the cellular sandwich structure of plant stems were fabricated.This study demonstrated how different cellular sandwich structures can balance the structure–property relationship and how to achieve unprecedented damage tolerance for a geopolymer composite.The results presented that components based on these biomimetic architectures exhibited stable non-catastrophic fracture characteristics regardless of the compression direction,and each structure possessed effective damage tolerance and anisotropy of mechanical properties.The results showed that the compressive strengths of honeycomb sandwich patterns,triangular sandwich patterns,wave sandwich patterns,and rectangular sandwich patterns in the Y-axis(Z-axis)direction were 15.6,17.9,11.3,and 20.1 MPa(46.7,26.5,23.8,and 34.4 MPa),respectively,and the maximum fracture strain corresponding to the above four structures could reach 10.2%,6.7%,5.8%,and 5.9%(12.1%,13.7%,13.6%,and 13.9%),respectively.