Innovators at NASA Johnson Space Center have developed a novel, double capsule control system that allows for high temperature and high-pressure geologic research to be performed in a contained environment relevant to a broad array of materials. It can also yield the speciation of redox-sensitive elements and is even capable of creating geologic conditions necessary to birth diamonds when used in conjunction with a multi-anvil press.
Users of this technology can specify a wide range of oxygen fugacity (fO2) values during experiments. The fO2 is a measure of rock oxidation that influences planetary structure and evolution and contributes directly to the study of our galactic origins. It commands some of the fundamental chemical and physical properties in planetary materials, including electrical conductivity, grain-growth kinetics, and phase stability.
This technology was previously used to replicate fO2 environments relevant to core samples from the Moon and those obtained from the Earth’s deep crust. It may be further extended to higher pressure and higher temperature studies where greater control of a specific experimental sample environment might allow unique chemical bonding and reactivity that would not be possible in systems that utilize the standard approaches.
NASA’s fO2 control system was developed to enable high-pressure, high-temperature experimental studies of astromaterials at fO2 values relevant to the sample of interest. However, it may also be useful for the synthesis of materials where fO2 control is required (e.g., synthesis of crystal structures that might be stable under higher oxygen pressure). Further use cases may include mineral or melt syntheses, metal-silicate or mineral-melt element partitioning, phase equilibria studies, and the possible development of new chemical and mineral compounds that could not be manufactured in laboratories before.
NASA is actively seeking licensees to commercialize this technology. Please contact NASA’s Licensing Concierge at
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This article first appeared in the May, 2024 issue of Tech Briefs Magazine.
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