The development of an efficient process to simultaneously extract oxygen and metals from lunar regolith by way of in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU) has the potential to enable sustainable activities beyond Earth. The Metalysis-FFC (Fray, Farthing, Chen) process has recently been proven for the industrial-scale production of metals and alloys, leading to the present investigation into the potential application of this process to regolith-like 2 materials. This paper provides a proof-of-concept for the electro-deoxidation of powdered solid-state lunar regolith simulant using an oxygen-evolving SnO2 anode, and constitutes the first in-depth study of regolith reduction by this process that fully characterises and quantifies both the anodic and cathodic products. Analysis of the resulting metallic powder shows that 96% of the total oxygen was successfully extracted to give a mixed metal alloy product. Approximately a third of the total oxygen in the sample was detected in the off-gas, with the remaining oxygen being lost to corrosion of the reactor vessel. We anticipate, with appropriate adjustments to the experimental setup and operating parameters, to be able to isolate essentially all of the oxygen from lunar regolith simulants using this process, leading to the exciting possibility of concomitant oxygen generation and metal alloy production on the lunar surface.

A series of donor–acceptor compounds based on triphenylamine and hexaazatrinaphthalene are investigated. Using a variety of linker units, it is possible to tune the intensity of the low‐energy transition from 8 000 m−1 cm−1 to 24 000 m−1 cm−1 and vary the wavelength between λ=430 to 490 nm. The effect of the linker may be observed in the resonance Raman spectra with linker unit modes showing strong enhancement when they are coupled to the charge‐transfer transition. This is evident in the case of the C≡C and triazolyl linker units. Charge transfer is consistent with DFT calculations, which implicate some linkers as having pseudo‐donor‐like behaviour. The emission spectra of the dyes are solvatochromic with Stokes shift versus solvent parameter gradients of 20 000 cm−1, showing that the dipole change is still large even when the bridge becomes involved in the transition.

Establishing a permanent human presence on the Moon or Mars requires a secure supply of oxygen for life support and refueling. The electrolysis of water has attracted significant attention in this regard as water-ice may exist on both the Moon and Mars. However, to date there has been no study examining how the lower gravitational fields on the Moon and Mars might affect gas-evolving electrolysis when compared to terrestrial conditions. Herein we provide experimental data on the effects of gravitational fields on water electrolysis from 0.166 g (lunar gravity) to 8 g (eight times the Earth’s gravity) and show that electrolytic oxygen production is reduced by around 11% under lunar gravity with our system compared to operation at 1 g. Moreover, our results indicate that electrolytic data collected using less resource-intensive ground-based experiments at elevated gravity (>1 g) may be extrapolated to gravitational levels below 1 g.

The front cover artwork is provided by J. E. Barnsley et al. at the Department of Chemistry, University of Otago (New Zealand). The image illustrates the charge‐transfer behaviour of triphenylamine‐substituted hexaazatrinaphthalene dyes. For the thiophene‐linked compound, absorption and emission associated with the charge‐transfer state is intense (i.e. “ON”) whereas for the triazolyl‐linked compound the charge‐transfer absorption is almost completely diminished (i.e.“OFF”). Read the full text of the Article at 10.1002/cptc.201700092.