With rising interest in lunar exploration, establishing bases on the Moon is a key goal for many countries. However, two main challenges arise: utilizing lunar soil for producing high-strength materials to reduce transportation costs and managing organic pollutants from human activities.

Although lunar soil contains abundant titanium and iron, its potential for high-value uses, especially in photocatalytic pollutant degradation, is under-researched. Traditional photocatalytic materials are Earth-dependent and unsuitable for the Moon's extreme conditions. Thus, developing functional materials using in-situ lunar resources is essential.

To tackle this challenge, a research team from the Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry (XTIPC) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in collaboration with the Lunar and Planetary Science Research Center at the Institute of Geochemistry, CAS, has made a breakthrough in high-value lunar soil utilization.

Utilizing their self-developed microwave-assisted lunar soil melting and fiber-forming technology, the team successfully produced continuous fiber materials using a high-titanium lunar soil simulant, CLRS-2, and uncovered their unique photocatalytic properties. Experimental results showed that under simulated sunlight, the fibers achieved a 95% degradation efficiency for the organic pollutant methylene blue within 180 minutes. Even after being reused five times, the fibers retained 85% of their activity, outperforming traditional supported photocatalytic materials. This innovation presents a novel solution for environmental management in future lunar bases.

Detailed structural characterization revealed that rutile-type TiO₂ crystals and iron nanoparticles formed within the lunar soil fibers during preparation. Under light irradiation, these crystals work together to generate abundant superoxide and hydroxyl radicals, enabling efficient organic pollutant degradation through two mechanisms: photo-generated electron-hole pair excitation and surface plasmon resonance.

This study offers a dual-purpose solution for lunar base construction. The lunar soil fibers can serve as structural materials for composite fabrication in base infrastructure. Additionally, their photocatalytic properties facilitate organic pollutant treatment and hold potential applications for solar-driven oxygen and hydrogen production from lunar water ice, providing technical support for sustainable lunar exploration.

This work was published in Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids and was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Scheme of Tianchi Talent for Innovation Leader Introduction in Xinjiang, among other sources.

Microwave melting and fiber-forming equipment (A) and schematic of photocatalytic mechanism in lunar soil simulant fibers (B). (Image by XTIPC)