Water Formation in the Lunar Regolith

Abstract

This study shows that oxygen atoms can be released from a crystal lattice of silicon dioxide in the lunar regolith as parts of silver hydroxide molecules. In turn, silver hydroxide can relatively easily react with hydrogen to generate water and silver. This means that the formation of water molecules involved in near-surface lunar soil is possible. The presence of water molecules in lunar soil can affect the photoelectric properties of the lunar regolith and the parameters of the dusty plasma system over the Moon.