This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: People living on the moon may seem like science fiction, but major U.S. labs and agencies are actively working toward building lunar habitats. Making those habitats livable will require solutions for extreme temperatures, limited resources and the handling of waste generated by long-term human missions.
To combat these challenges, Alexander Wei and Jacob Staker, researchers in Purdue University's College of Science, are developing methods to create aerogels—ultralight insulating materials—using components that could be generated on the moon. Aerogels are used as insulation in a variety of industrial and commercial applications, including spacecraft, buildings and electric vehicles. "Sustaining a long-term presence on the moon will require us to rethink how we use local resources," said Wei, a professor in the James Tarpo Jr. and Margaret Tarpo Department of Chemistry.
"Rather than relying on Earth to supply everything we need, we're exploring how materials already available on the moon, including waste generated by its inhabitants, could be upcycled into something essential for safe and livable habitats." To test this approach, commonly referred to as in situ resource utilization, Wei and Staker are developing aerogels made from a combination of cellulose—a natural fiber that can be derived from paper or cardboard waste—and lunar regolith simulant, a material that is chemically and mineralogically similar to lunar soil or moon dust. Their results were recently published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. Temperatures on the moon can reach 260 degrees Fahrenheit (127 degrees Celsius) during lunar daylight and then plummet to minus 280 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 173 degrees Celsius) at night, making insulation a key component of any lunar habitat or structure.
Aerogels are excellent insulators because their structure can support up to 99% empty space, leaving little solid material through which heat can travel. Those empty spaces are filled with air on Earth but become a vacuum on the moon and hardly conduct heat compared with a dense material, thereby reducing heat transfer. Staker, a graduate researcher, compares aerogels in the vacuum of space to insulated water bottles: "Imagine an aerogel as a high-tech Thermos for a lunar base.
Most of it consists of empty space that insulates the interior, helping it maintain the temperature of what's inside. Covering lunar habitats with a layer of aerogel helps to protect them from the moon's harsh temperature swings." Wei and Staker chose cellulose and lunar regolith simulant as the main components of their aerogels because of their availability and physical properties. The regolith that Wei and Staker use contains mostly orthosilicates and aluminosilicates, minerals that make up much of the moon's crust.
"Once a lunar settlement is established, inhabitants will naturally generate cellulose-rich waste that accumulates from paper or cardboard packaging, or even from lunar agriculture," Wei said. "And I can guarantee that astronauts on the moon will never run out of moon dust." Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights. d research that matter—daily or weekly. The regolith, cellulose fibers from shredded paper and water are ground up in a planetary ball mill with the assistance of heavy ceramic balls.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
