Taking advantage of glass: capturing and retaining the helium gas on the moon

doi: 10.1088/2752-5724/ac74af

Ao Li^{1, 2},
Xiao Chen^{1, 2},
Lijian Song^{1, 2},
Guoxin Chen³,
Wei Xu^1
,,
Juntao Huo^1
,,
Meng Gao¹,
Ming Li³,
Lei Zhang³,
Bingnan Yao¹,
Min Ji¹,
Yan Zhang¹,
Shaofan Zhao⁴,
Wei Yao⁴,
Yanhui Liu⁵,
Jun-Qiang Wang^{1, 2
,},
Haiyang Bai^{4, 5
,},
Zhigang Zou^{4, 6},
Mengfei Yang⁴,
Weihua Wang^{4, 5, 7}

1.
CAS Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials and Devices, and Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Magnetic Materials and Application Technology, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, People’s Republic of China
2.
Center of Materials Science and Optoelectronics Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People’s Republic of China
3.
Center of Test and Analysis, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, People’s Republic of China
4.
Qian Xuesen Laboratory of Space Technology, China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), Beijing 100094, People’s Republic of China
5.
Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People’s Republic of China
6.
College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, People’s Republic of China
7.
Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, 523830, People’s Republic of China

More Information

Corresponding author: E-mail: weixu@nimte.ac.cn; E-mail: huojuntao@nimte.ac.cn; E-mail: jqwang@nimte.ac.cn; E-mail: hybai@iphy.ac.cn

摘要

Abstract: Helium-3 (³He) is a noble gas that has critical applications in scientific research and promising application potential as clean fusion energy. It is thought that the lunar regolith contains large amounts of helium, but it is challenging to extract because most helium atoms are reserved in defects of crystals or as solid solutions. Here, we find large amounts of helium bubbles in the glassy surface layer of ilmenite particles that were brought back by the Chang’E-5 mission. The special disordered atomic packing structure of glasses should be the critical factor for capturing the noble helium gas. The reserves in bubbles do not require heating to high temperatures to be extracted. Mechanical methods at ambient temperatures can easily break the bubbles. Our results provide insights into the mechanism of helium gathering on the moon and offer guidance on future in situ extraction.
- glass /
- lunar regolith /
- disorder /
- helium bubble /
- ilmenite
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Figure 1. An SEM image and EDS elemental mapping for a representative ilmenite (FeTiO₃) particle with attachment of agglutinates. A thin layer is cut for TEM test from the white rectangle site in the first image.

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Figure 2. TEM images and EELS curves. (a) The bright field TEM image of the ilmenite (FeTiO₃) sample. It has a glassy surface layer of about 50 nm in thickness where abundant helium bubbles are observed. Below the glass layer is first a partial glass region and then the crystalline phase. On the right-hand side are high-resolution TEM images. (b) The zoomed-in image of the glass layer containing many helium gas bubbles. (c) A spherical helium bubble in the glass with clear interface. (d) The EELS curves acquired at different locations in (a); site 1 is a big bubble; site 2 is a small bubble; site 3 is in the glass layer; site 4 is in the crystalline phase. The helium signal at around 22 eV is detected in the glassy layer.

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Figure 3. EDS mapping surrounding a helium bubble. (a) HAADF TEM image, and corresponding EDS mapping for (b) Fe, (c) O, and (d) Ti. The dashed circles are guiding eyes to the bubble outline. (e) The linear scan of elemental distribution across a helium bubble, see the dashed arrow in (a).

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Figure 4. Schematic illustration of the capturing and retaining process of helium (He) on the surface of ilmenite. (a) Helium atoms in the solar wind implant into the lattice of crystalline ilmenite. (b) Surface amorphization caused by long-time irradiation of the solar wind. (c) Helium atoms diffuse into the glassy surface layer and form bubbles.

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