An organic-inorganic nanohybrid based on lunar soil simulant

The synthesis of organic nanointerphases for analysis of lunar soil grains using polymer intercalation/exfoliation (PIE) technique, was investigated. JSC-1 lunar soil simulant comprising of 47.7 % silica, 9.0 % MgO, 7.3 % FeO, 3.4 % Fe2O3, 1.6 % TiO2, and 0.8 % K2O was used as lunar soil to analyze the chemical composition, the grain size, the inter-particle friction and cohesion using PIE. ε-caprolactam, aminocaproic acid, montmorillonite, and deionized water was uniformly mixed and a trace amount of phosphoric acid was added as accelerator. The mixture was thermal-treated in a Lindberg tube furnace in nitrogen environment at 260°C to avoid intercalation of ε-caprolactam into montmorillonite. It was observed that organic nanointerphases was consisted of close-packed simulant grains and continuous nanointerphase. Result shows that JSC-1 lunar soil simulants developed by PIE technique offer higher flexure strength.