LIVING OFF THE LAND ON MARS.

The low average Martian (left to right) figure 2B and 2c. The Martian brine electrolyser: (b) the assembled lab-scale electrolyser with 5 cm 2 active area; and (c) components of the electrolyser MEMBRANE ELECTRODE ASSEMBLY (MEA) TITANIUM FLOW FIELD END PLATE CURRENT COLLECTOR POWER LEADS FLOW INLET/ OUTLET GRAPHITE FLOW FIELD figure 2A: The Martian brine electrolyser. Feature chemeng on mars MARCH 2021 | The Chemical Engineer | page 22 Shrihari Sankarasubramanian, Pralay Gayen and Vijay K Ramani discuss work on methods to make fuel and oxygen on the red planet M ARS, the fourth planet from the Sun, has been an object of fascination for millennia. Schematic and electrochemical reactions at both electrodes E 0,cell = 1.23V H 2 + 2OH - <=> 2H 2 O+2e E 0,cathode = 0.83V vs SHE 1/2O 2 + H 2 O+2e <=> 2OH E 0,anode = 0.40V vs SHE CATHODE FLOW FIELD OH - OH OH OH OH OH OH OH H 2 O H 2 O H 2 O H 2 O OH OH OH 2e 2e ANODE SEPARATOR mars DGv2.indd 24 18/02/2021 15:28 MARCH 2021 | The Chemical Engineer | page 25 feature chemeng on mars terrestrial temperatures (-36ºC) were achieved and maintained by immersing a vessel with 2.8 M Mg(ClO 4) 2 solution (simulated Martian regolithic brine, SMRB, in a dry-ice bath with an ethylene glycol and ethanol mixture. [Extracted from the article]