Matrix transformation of lunar regolith and its use as a feedstock for additive manufacturing
Nicholas I. Cool,
Saul Perez-Beltran,
Jingxiang Cheng,
Natalia Rivera-Gonzalez,
Daniel Bronner,
Anita,
Elbert Wang,
Umme Zakira,
Mehdi Farahbakhsh,
Kai-Wei Liu,
Jia-Lin Hsu,
Bjorn Birgisson,
Sarbajit Banerjee
Affiliations
Nicholas I. Cool
Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3012, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3012, USA
Saul Perez-Beltran
Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3012, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3012, USA
Jingxiang Cheng
Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3012, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3012, USA
Natalia Rivera-Gonzalez
Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3012, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3012, USA
Daniel Bronner
Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3012, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3012, USA
Anita
Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3012, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3012, USA
Elbert Wang
Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3012, USA
Umme Zakira
Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3012, USA
Mehdi Farahbakhsh
Department of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3012, USA
Kai-Wei Liu
Texas A&M Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3012, USA
Jia-Lin Hsu
Texas A&M Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3012, USA
Bjorn Birgisson
Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3012, USA
Sarbajit Banerjee
Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3012, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3012, USA; Corresponding author
Summary: Building a sustainable human habitat on the Moon requires advances in excavation, paving, and additive manufacturing to construct landing pads, surface transportation arteries, resilient shelters, and scientific outposts. Construction of infrastructure elements on the lunar surface necessitates exploration of the interfacial reactivity of locally sourced regolith and the adaptation of Earth-based construction techniques. Various crosslinking frameworks and sintering methods have been proposed as a means of consolidating lunar regolith into load-bearing structures but each have challenges related to incomplete understanding of reaction chemistry, excessive thermal budgets, and lack of universal applicability to different mineral components of regolith. We describe here a versatile experimental and computational study of the consolidation of a regolith simulant through formation of siloxane networks enmeshing mineral particles by surface dissolution—precipitation and polycondensation reactions. Furthermore, by tailoring the rheological properties of the formulation an additive manufacturing feedstock can be developed for the construction of lunar infrastructure.
