The topic focuses on electro winning of metals and alloys from a typical Martian mineral, regolith, and the production of oxygen as a byproduct, without emitting greenhouse gasses or using fossil
fuels in any phase.
The following tasks are proposed for this Master's project:
1. Investigating various available regolith-like samples.
2. Systematic preparation of regolith pellets using the pressing-sintering method.
3. Characterization of the pellets in terms of porosity, morphology (SEM), mechanical (micro-hardness) and electrical (conductivity) properties.
4. Usage of an already existing set-up for high-temperature molten salt electrolysis and the self-prepared pellets for electrowinning, focusing on the impacts of the pellet-type and electrolyte composition on the results.
5. Characterization of the samples after the run using XRD analysis in order to determinethe current efficiency