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

Ao Li; Xiao Chen; Lijian Song; Guoxin Chen; Wei Xu; Juntao Huo; Meng Gao; Ming Li; Lei Zhang; Bingnan Yao; Min Ji; Yan Zhang; Shaofan Zhao; Wei Yao; Yanhui Liu; Jun-Qiang Wang; Haiyang Bai; Zhigang Zou; Mengfei Yang; Weihua Wang

doi:10.1088/2752-5724/ac74af

Volume 1 Issue 3

September 2022

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Article Contents

Ao Li, Xiao Chen, Lijian Song, Guoxin Chen, Wei Xu, Juntao Huo, Meng Gao, Ming Li, Lei Zhang, Bingnan Yao, Min Ji, Yan Zhang, Shaofan Zhao, Wei Yao, Yanhui Liu, Jun-Qiang Wang, Haiyang Bai, Zhigang Zou, Mengfei Yang, Weihua Wang. Taking advantage of glass: capturing and retaining the helium gas on the moon[J]. Materials Futures, 2022, 1(3): 035101. doi: 10.1088/2752-5724/ac74af

Citation:

Ao Li, Xiao Chen, Lijian Song, Guoxin Chen, Wei Xu, Juntao Huo, Meng Gao, Ming Li, Lei Zhang, Bingnan Yao, Min Ji, Yan Zhang, Shaofan Zhao, Wei Yao, Yanhui Liu, Jun-Qiang Wang, Haiyang Bai, Zhigang Zou, Mengfei Yang, Weihua Wang. Taking advantage of glass: capturing and retaining the helium gas on the moon[J]. Materials Futures, 2022, 1(3): 035101. doi: 10.1088/2752-5724/ac74af

Citation:

Ao Li, Xiao Chen, Lijian Song, Guoxin Chen, Wei Xu, Juntao Huo, Meng Gao, Ming Li, Lei Zhang, Bingnan Yao, Min Ji, Yan Zhang, Shaofan Zhao, Wei Yao, Yanhui Liu, Jun-Qiang Wang, Haiyang Bai, Zhigang Zou, Mengfei Yang, Weihua Wang. Taking advantage of glass: capturing and retaining the helium gas on the moon[J]. Materials Futures, 2022, 1(3): 035101. doi: 10.1088/2752-5724/ac74af

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

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}

Materials Futures, Volume 1, Number 3

Received Date: 2022-05-29
Accepted Date: 2022-05-29
Publish Date: 2022-06-24

Article information

doi: 10.1088/2752-5724/ac74af

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
Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available within the article and the Supplementary Information.

These authors contributed equally.

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

Abstract

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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Author contributions

W H W, H Y B, M F Y, Z G Z and S F Z led and supervised this project. J Q W, W X and J T H conceived and guided the research. A L, X C, L J S, M G, M J, Y Z prepared the samples. G C, M L, L Z, A L, X C conducted the TEM and EELS measurements. J Q W, W X, J T H, L J S, Y H L, H Y B, W H W wrote the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the preparation of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

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