Researchers have developed a method to produce significant amounts of water on the moon by reacting lunar regolith with hydrogen.

This innovative process could potentially extract over 50 kg of water from one ton of lunar soil, paving the way for sustainable human life and research stations on the Moon.

Moon water extraction

Water plays a crucial role in human survival on the lunar surface and is therefore attracting great attention in research. Prof. Junqiang Wang’s team at the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) recently developed a new method for mass water production through a reaction between lunar regolith and endogenous hydrogen.

Research results from previous lunar explorations, such as the Apollo and Chang’E-5 missions, have shown that water is widespread on the Moon. However, the water content in lunar minerals is extremely low, ranging between 0.0001% and 0.02%. Extracting and using water locally on the Moon remains a challenge.

Breakthrough in hydrogen use on the moon

“We used lunar regolith samples brought back by the Chang’E-5 mission for our study to find a way to produce water on the moon,” Wang said.

The study found that one gram of molten lunar regolith can produce 51–76 mg of water when the lunar regolith is heated to over 1,200 K using concave mirrors. In other words, one ton of lunar regolith could produce more than 50 kg of water, which is equivalent to about a hundred 500 ml drinking water bottles. That would be enough drinking water for 50 people for a day.

Exploring mineral resources for sustainable life on the moon

In addition, lunar ilmenite (FeTiO₃) contained the highest proportion of solar wind-implanted hydrogen of the five major minerals in the lunar regolith, due to its unique lattice structure with subnanometer tunnels.

In-situ heating experiments have shown that hydrogen in lunar minerals is an important resource for water production on the Moon. This water could be used for both drinking and irrigating crops. In addition, it could be electrochemically broken down into hydrogen and oxygen, with hydrogen required for energy and oxygen for breathing.

These discoveries provide groundbreaking insights into water exploration on the Moon and provide insight into the future construction of lunar research stations.

The results of the study were published in the scientific journal The innovation.

Reference: “Massive water production from lunar ilmenite via reaction with endogenous hydrogen” by Xiao Chen, Shiyu Yang, Guoxin Chen, Weixu, Lijian Song, Ao Li, Hangbo Ce Yin, Weixing Xia, Meng Gao, Ming Li, Haichen Wu, Junfeng Cui, Lei Zhang, Lijing Miao, Xiaoxue Shui, Weiping Xie, Peiling Ke, Yongjiang Huang, Jianfei Sun, Bingnan Yao, Min Ji, Mingliang Xiang, Yan Zhang, Shaofan Zhao, Wei Yao, Zhigang Zou, Mengfei Yang, Weihua Wang, Juntao Huo, Jun-Qiang Wang and Haiyang Bai, August 22, 2024, The innovation.
DOI: 10.1016/j.xinn.2024.100690