Lomax, B., Just, G., McHugh, P., Broadley, P., Hutchings, G., Burke, P., Roy, M., Smith, K. and Symes, M. (2021) Predicting the efficiency of oxygen-evolving electrolysis on the Moon and Mars. [Data Collection]
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Establishing a permanent human presence on the Moon or Mars will require a secure supply of oxygen for life support and refueling. The electrolysis of water has attracted significant attention in this regard as water-ice may exist on both the Moon and Mars. However, to date there has been no study examining how the lower gravitational fields on the Moon and Mars might affect water electrolysis when compared to terrestrial conditions. This knowledge-gap hampers efforts to design electrolysis systems to support human habitation on these bodies. Herein we provide, for the first time, experimental data on the effects of gravitational fields on water electrolysis across the entire range from 0.166 g (lunar gravity) to 8 g (eight times the Earth’s gravity). Various gravitational levels were achieved through the use of a centrifuge system operating both in a terrestrial laboratory (1 g – 8 g) and also in freefall during parabolic flights on an Airbus A310 aircraft (<1 g). Through analysis of the effects of gravity on electrolytic currents and voltages, and also on the formation and evolution of oxygen bubbles on the surface of the anode (visualized in situ during electrolysis), we show that electrolytic oxygen production is reduced by around 11% under lunar gravity with our system compared to operation at 1 g. More importantly perhaps, our results indicate that electrolytic data collected using less resource-intensive ground-based experiments at elevated gravity (>1 g) may be extrapolated to gravitational levels below 1 g. The implication is that future investigations of electrolysis on the Moon or Mars can substitute parabolic flights with these much more accessible facilities.
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| College / School: | College of Science and Engineering > School of Chemistry |
| Date Deposited: | 02 Nov 2021 15:47 |
| URI: | https://researchdata.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/1210 |
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