Materials that generate oxygen have been synthesized from meteorites discovered on Mars through the utilization of a robotic artificial intelligence (AI) chemist. This groundbreaking research, featured in Nature Production, serves as a proof-of-concept for oxygen production and holds potential implications for future manned missions to Mars.
Given the essential nature of air for human activities on the red planet, including its utilization in rocket propellants and life support systems, the necessity for oxygen on potential manned Mars missions is evident. By leveraging existing resources on Mars to generate oxygen instead of relying on supplies from Earth, the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of such missions could be significantly enhanced. The identification of water on Mars and the analysis of the chemical composition of Martian meteorites offer an opportunity to develop catalysts using indigenous resources.
A mechanical AI chemist, developed by Jun Jiang and his team at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, China, has demonstrated the capability to produce precursors for hydrogen production from Martian materials autonomously. This innovative approach involves the selection of optimal precursor formulas from a vast array of possibilities, exceeding three million compositions, through a machine-learning model based on both fundamental data and empirical observations.
The researchers focused on five distinct categories of Martian-origin meteorites or those confirmed to have Martian origins, subjecting them to analysis by the mechanical AI chemist. By transforming these meteorites into compound substances and subsequently deriving catalysts from these compounds, the AI system efficiently identified the most effective catalyst, a process that would have taken an estimated 2,000 years of human labor. The authors successfully demonstrated the catalyst’s performance in simulated Martian conditions.
In their publication, the researchers state, “The catalyst obtained exhibits a current density of 10 mA cm2 sustained for over 550,000 hours with an overpotential of 445.1mV, showcasing the efficacy of synthetic intelligence in autonomously creating chemicals and materials for Mars exploration.”
The study concludes that this mechanical AI chemist represents a significant advancement in the automated generation of catalysts using Martian resources, potentially opening avenues for oxygen production on Mars by future human missions.
