抄録
Alumina reduction by laser ablation has been researched towards aluminum acquisition from lunar regolith based on the view of in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). In the previous study, alumina dissociation into aluminum atoms in the ablation plume generated by continuous-wave laser irradiation was demonstrated. However, collection of the produced aluminum in the ablation plume using a recovery plate has a difficulty due to the recombination of produced aluminum and oxygen atoms during the cooling process with turbulence on the recovery plate. In this study, a recovery tube was applied to the aluminum collection system. The ablation plume contacted the recovery tube without causing turbulence, and 7.4% of ablated substances by mass adhered to the tube. By the SEM observation, aluminum particles were detected on the inner surface of recovery tube, which demonstrated aluminum collection from laser ablated alumina. The aluminum collection percentage was measured to 0.03% by chemical treatment using NaOH solution. Further improvement of the aluminum collection percentage could be optimizing the shape of recovery systems considering its physical interference with the ablation plume.
https://ror.org/01fxdkm29 
