Visualization electrolysis of NEU-1 lunar soil simulant in KF-AlF3 electrolyte at low-temperature
Electrolysis of NEU-1 lunar regolith simulants was operated in 43 KF-57AlF3 electrolyte at 650℃ in a quartz crucible.The Fe-Ni alloy was used as inert anode which consisted of 57Fe-43Ni and the cathode was made of nickel mesh with the lunar soil simulant in it.Electrode reaction phenomena during electrolysis were visualized using a see-through cell and electrolytes,cathode products and anode gas were characterized by X-ray Diffraction(XRD),Energy Display Spectrometer(EDS)and gas infrared on-line analyzer.The see-through cell was designed with a transparent quartz window in order to observe the phenomena during the electrolysis,It was found that different zones of the electrolyte showed different colors during the electrolysis.The electrolyte divided into three zones as the upper zone,the mid layer and the lower layer.Specifizally,in the upper zone,electrolyte appeared yellowish-brown,and its main phase were KAlF4 and Fe3O4 after condensation.The electrolyte in the mid-layer was transparent,while the center area was black,and the phases after condensation were SiO2,NiO,and Fe-Ni,along with small amount of Fe3O4 and Al-Fe alloy found in the side of mid-layer.The lower layer was bluish-purple metal fog with the predominant phases being Al,Al2O3,and Fe-Ni-Si-Ti alloy.The metal products were present in the form of fine particles located in the area close to the nickel mesh cathode.In the cathode nickel mesh,the main metal product was Fe(35.09wt％),with a small amount of Ti(1.06wt％),Al(9.38wt％),and Si(3.62wt％).It was found that gas bubbles were continuously generated at the bottom of the inert anode during the electrolysis in the see-through cell.Furthermore,an experiment was designed to collect the gas which generated by the electrolysis and detect the anode gas by using an on-line infrared gas analyzer.The result indicated that after 2 hours of electrolysis,the volume fraction of oxygen in the anode gas was stabilized at 95vol％.
lunar soilin-situ resources utilizationmolten salt electrolysisinert anodecryolite melts
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