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If humans ever visit Mars, they may need some important resources while they’re there to stay long enough to explore and refuel the long return journey. Although the days of surface water flow are long gone, the Red Planet is not entirely without the raw materials to make this business a success.
The March 2020 mission was launched in July Experiment with this goal in mind. MOXIE – Experience using Mars’ oxygen resources in situ: a box not much larger than a roaster that produces oxygen from carbon dioxide in the atmosphere2. While a much larger version is needed to produce liquid oxygen for a rocket, MOXIE is sized to produce the amount of oxygen an active person needs to breathe.
A new study by Bralay Jain at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, is testing a device that can tap into a different source: a brine above the chlorine thought to be present on Mars in some locations. The device can split the water in the brine, producing pure oxygen and hydrogen.
Perchlorate (ClO4We have found that salts are common on the surface of Mars. These salts have an affinity for water molecules and can collect water vapor over time, turning into a very low temperature brine. Evidence exists Large quantities of what this brine could be under the Arctic surface of Mars, smaller quantities have been recalled as a possible explanation for the activity. Stripes that sometimes appear on the slopes of Mars.
To see if we could harness this resource, the researchers built an electrolyser that worked under conditions similar to those of Martians. It uses a standard platinum-carbon cathode and a special lead, ruthenium and oxygen anode previously developed by the researchers. They mixed a reasonable concentration of magnesium perchlorate brine and filled the headspace in that container with pure carbon dioxide.2 Atmosphere similar to that of Mars. The whole was kept at -36 ° C (-33 ° F). When turned on, the brine flows through the device, dividing into pure oxygen gas which is captured on the anode side and pure hydrogen gas on the cathode side.
The device worked well, producing about 25 times the amount of oxygen that its MOXIE counterpart could deliver. MOXIE requires approximately 300 watts of power to operate and this device corresponds to an oxygen output of approximately 12 watts. Additionally, it also produces hydrogen which can be used in a fuel cell to generate electricity. And the researchers say it will be smaller and lighter than MOXIE. In the end, all of this only shows that MOXIE operates with a lower quality, but more widely accessible, resource in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.2 Instead of water.
A device like this must undergo long-term pressure testing, of course, to ensure that performance doesn’t degrade over time and is generally solid. The membrane separating the sides of the cathode and anode has been carefully activated to block carbon dioxide2 To contaminate it, for example. If your survival depends on a device you brought to Mars, malfunctions are not an option.
PNAS, 2020 DOI: 10.1073 / Banas .2008613117 (About DOI).
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