A membrane Sabatier system for water recovery and rocket propellant production

作者：Inam Ullah, Jie Ren, Feng Zeng, Hao Lou, Zeeshan Abbasi, Syed Musab Ahmed, Wenlong Wu, Zhandong Wang · 发表于：Nature Communications · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1038/s41467-025-63667-w · 被引用次数：7 · 研究领域：Membrane Separation Technologies、Spacecraft and Cryogenic Technologies、Electrohydrodynamics and Fluid Dynamics

One significant obstacle to the colonization of Mars is the high cost of excess launch mass required for long-term space travel and the establishment of a settlement. The Sabatier reaction provides a means for recycling water and rocket propellant that dramatically reduces the supplement. Herein, we introduce a membrane Sabatier system by integrating a catalytic reactor with an H2O vapor permselective membrane tube. We achieve a substantial increase in CO2 conversion, a high CH4 yield and excellent long-term stability via highly efficient in-situ water removal. Furthermore, the system’s robustness under intermittent power supplies, and its adaptability across a wide range of reaction conditions, makes it highly compatible with the electrolytic hydrogen production system, which is subject to unstable solar energies. The advent of the membrane Sabatier system heralds a transformative approach to the recycling of H2O and rocket propellant in long-term interplanetary exploration. To make Mars colonization cheaper by reducing the heavy supplies needed from Earth, scientists have created a highly efficient recycling system that turns carbon dioxide and hydrogen into fresh water and rocket fuel (methane), and it works reliably even with the inconsistent solar power available on Mars.