| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
MS&T24: Materials Science & Technology
|
| Symposium
|
The American Ceramic Society Journal Awards Symposium
|
| Presentation Title |
Degradation of Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia in Molten Regolith Electrolysis Applications |
| Author(s) |
Kevin Yu, Jamesa Stokes, Bryan Harder, Lorlyn Reidy, Jesus Dominguez, Katherine Faber |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Kevin Yu |
| Abstract Scope |
Oxygen generation from lunar resources is an enabling technology to support a sustained human presence on the lunar surface. Molten regolith electrolysis is a promising process for directly electrolyzing lunar regolith, which is primarily a mixture of oxide minerals. During electrolysis, metallic products are formed at the cathode and oxygen is produced at the anode. To perform electrolysis, the regolith must be molten to enable ionic transport of metallic cations and oxygen anions, requiring operating temperatures of 1600°C. Common refractory oxide materials undergo rapid degradation due to the high temperature and corrosive molten regolith. This work investigates yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) for molten regolith electrolysis applications. Corrosion studies are presented to elucidate the degradation mechanism of YSZ exposed to lunar regolith simulants at 1600°C. Two simulants are used to represent regolith from the lunar maria and highlands. YSZ degradation in contact with regolith simulants is evaluated using SEM/EDS, XRD, and EBSD. |