The chemical research group Plasmant of the University of Antwerp has discovered that the composition of the atmosphere of Mars can serve to convert CO2 into oxygen and CO, but also to change nitrogen into a good basis for fertilizer. The technology could potentially be used for life support and transportation on Mars.
Plasmant did the experiments with a plasma reactor they had built themselves. Plasma is the fourth state of matter next to gas, solid and liquid, and arises when gas molecules split into charged particles by adding energy. For example, you can use it to split CO2 and nitrogen and convert them into new molecules.
“The plasma is generated by introducing electrical energy into a reactor,” says Prof. Annemie Bogaerts of UAntwerp. “In practice, this means that we all make small lightning bolts in our reactor. Those lightning bolts first split the gas molecules, such as CO2 and nitrogen, into highly reactive particles, after which these particles collide again and form new products.”
fertilizer
The Martian atmosphere consists largely of CO2, with a small fraction of nitrogen. According to the researchers, this composition now makes it possible to obtain oxygen and the basis for fertilizer, among other things, even simultaneously. The plasma method would also be very flexible, with an instantaneous start-up time, and therefore compatible with the fluctuating and non-continuous available solar electricity on Mars.
The researchers now want to further investigate whether coupling the plasma process with gas separation technology can provide clean gas streams of oxygen, CO and NOx, which are necessary for life support and transport during future robotic or even human exploration of the red planet.
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