Low-pressure plasma/photocatalytic nanofibrous membrane reactor system for harvesting fuel components from Martian atmosphere: KSC Partnership Office/Conversion of Co2 into Fuel.

Technical areas affected: Appendix E: KSC Partnerships Office, Research Title: Conversion of CO2 into Fuel. This project aims at the developing of a light-weight ceramic nanofiber-based, glow discharge enhanced, photocatalytic membrane reactor system operating at reduced pressures to support efficient in-situ resource utilization in future Mars missions. Current processes designed for Mars in situ resource utilization (ISRU) include Sabatier, steam/dry reforming, reverse water/gas shift, electrolysis, Fischer-Tropsch, methanol synthesis and several others. All these and related processes rely on relatively heavy and energy-thirsty equipment and frequently need the temperatures >150 oC and pressures ≥1bar (up to 50 bar). Several other approaches have been proposed to utilize the Martian atmosphere for fuel components, water and oxygen. Those include solid oxide electrolysis (MOXIE), photocatalysis, and glow-discharge plasma. Photoreduction of CO2 to CO and O2, or to other compounds through the reactions with H2 and H2O is possible due to reasonable solar irradiance (<300 W/m2) on Mars. Plasma technology is also gaining increased interest for the reduction of CO2 to CO and O2. Although some interesting results have been obtained, both plasma and photocatlytic approaches are still in their infancy. To advance these promising technologies to the next level, the proposed study will explore the potential of plasma/photocatlytic conversion of CO2 into the fuel components by using a light-weight and scalable nanofibrous ceramic (NFC) membrane catalytic reactor system operating under simulated Martian atmospheric conditions. The proposed reactor incorporates the staked flat gas separation membrane, catalytic membrane, and metal mesh electrode system capable of operating at low pressures and down to cryogenic temperatures. The research objectives include the design, fabrication, and tests of NFC membranes for (1) CO2/N2 and CO/O2 separation, (2) CO2 splitting to CO and O2 in glow discharge and under visible light, and (3) CO2 and CO reactions with H2 and CH4 in glow discharge and under visible light at low pressures and temperatures. The feasibility of completion of the proposed tasks is based on the availability of the efficient process to fabricate NFC membranes with different composition and microarchitectures and total porosity up to 99.5%. The process involves a high-yield, free-surface alternating field electro-spinning (AFES) to prepare nanofibrous ceramic precursors, followed by calcination and sintering procedures to fabricate the membranes. This allows the fabrication and screening, in reasonable time, of a variety of prospective membrane compositions and structures. Targeted materials primarily include the nanofibrous transition metal oxides (TiO2, ZrO2, ZrxTi1-xO2) doped with Ni, Mn, Ru, Cu, Fe, and Co, and incorporating, in some cases, carbon nanostructures. Significant research findings on gas transport and catalytic performance of NFC membranes and entire reactor system under targeted environmental conditions are expected upon completion of these tasks.

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