Is there glass for building a lunar base? Chinese scientists have made the latest discovery of lunar soil

There is glass on the moon! On the 7th, the reporter learned from the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences that through systematic material science research on the Chang'e 5 lunar soil samples, Chinese researchers have discovered various types of lunar glass materials of different origins. More importantly, they also discovered natural glass fibers for the first time in the Chang'e 5 lunar soil. The relevant research results were published online in the National Science Review.

When we talk about glass, we usually think of beautiful French windows, colorful glass crafts and electronic screens everywhere. In fact, glass is not only an important man-made material, but also a natural substance that is ubiquitous in nature. Even on the desolate and barren surface of the moon, there is still abundant glass produced by volcanic eruptions, geological movements, meteorite impacts and other activities.

Many glasses on the moon can exist stably for hundreds of millions of years. Lunar glass is an important material for exploring the mysteries of the moon. It not only preserves ancient lunar materials, but also records the environmental information when it was formed. "The lunar soil samples from Chang'e-5 provide an excellent opportunity to reveal the origin and evolution of the moon, understand the lunar surface and space environment, and promote the in-situ utilization of lunar resources. It also provides valuable samples for the study of extraterrestrial glass materials." said Bai Haiyang, a researcher at the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

This time, the researchers comprehensively analyzed the morphology, composition, microstructure and formation mechanism of glass materials in the Chang'e-5 lunar soil samples. They found that there are glass origins with multiple transformation paths of solid, liquid and gas on the lunar surface. The frequent meteorite and micrometeorite impacts on the lunar surface caused mineral melting and rapid cooling, producing various forms of glass materials, including spherical, ellipsoidal, dumbbell-shaped and other rotating glass beads, pore structure cement, fluid-shaped sputtering, etc.

Figure 1. Glass beads with spherical, ellipsoidal, dumbbell-shaped and other rotational features in the lunar soil of Chang'e 5

Figure 2. Glass fibers with different aspect ratios in the Chang'e-5 lunar soil

"These impact-originated glass materials record multi-scale impact events on the lunar surface from thousands of meters to nanometers. The morphology of the related solidified glass depends on the viscosity of the glass-forming liquid dominated by the impact temperature. The impact intensity of the meteorite can be inferred from this, which is of great significance for understanding the formation and evolution of lunar soil." Dr. Zhao Rui from the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences introduced.

Of particular note is that researchers discovered natural glass fibers for the first time in the lunar soil of Chang'e-5. These glass fibers with ultra-high aspect ratios come from the thermoplastic molding of viscous liquids during impact. Compared with glass beads with low aspect ratios, the viscosity of the liquid that forms these glass fibers is higher, which means that the corresponding impact temperature and impact rate are lower. This reflects the relatively mild micro-impact events on the lunar surface.

At the same time, "these natural glass fibers prove that lunar soil has good glass-forming ability and excellent processing and molding properties, which confirms the feasibility of using lunar soil to process and produce glass building materials on the lunar surface, which will provide important support for the construction of future lunar bases." said Shen Laiquan, an associate researcher at the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Figure 3. Vapor-deposited amorphous layer on the surface of Chang'e 5 lunar soil particles

Figure 4. Schematic diagram of the different origins of various types of glass materials on the lunar surface

Science and Technology Daily reporter Lu Chengkuan

The cover image of this article is from the copyright gallery and is not authorized for reprinting; the images in the article are from the official website of the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences