Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 8, 2025
Additive Manufacturing of Functionally Graded Ceramic Materials by Stereolithography
Published on: January 25, 2019
Ceramic Material Processing Towards Future Space Habitat: Electric Current-Assisted Sintering of Lunar Regolith
Xin Li Phuah1, Han Wang1, Bruce Zhang2
1School of Materials Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
Abstract:
In situ utilization of available resources in space is necessary for future space habitation. However, direct sintering of the lunar regolith on the Moon as structural and functional components is considered to be challenging due to the sintering conditions. To address this issue, we demonstrate the use of electric current-assisted sintering (ECAS) as a single-step method of compacting and densifying lunar regolith simulant JSC-1A. The sintering temperature and pressure required to achieve a relative density of 97% and microhardness of 6 GPa are 700 °C and 50 MPa, which are significantly lower than for the conventional sintering technique. The sintered samples also demonstrated ferroelectric and ferromagnetic behavior at room temperature. This study presents the feasibility of using ECAS to sinter lunar regolith for future space resource utilization and habitation.
