DESIGN OF SUSTAINABLE CO sub(2) ABSORBING-O sub(2) RE BREATHING SMART PANELS FOR EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS

INTRODUCTION: Space exploration life support systems would greatly benefit from habitat construction materials using native materials and/or materials that can be processed on site. No commercially available material can satisfy all of these performance requirements. This work focuses on incorporating biological materials, nano-materials and extant minerals for building hybrid composites which can serve as "living walls" within habitat structures, providing carbon sequestration and producing oxygen. METHODS: There were three separate experiments completed in order to determine the mass balance of carbon, carbon dioxide, and oxygen gas in the system. The procedures are listed below. 1 Preparation of Active Component-Carbon Dioxide Removal-Oxygen Production material 2 Mass Balance of Carbon Dioxide, Oxygen, and Carbon Material 3 Measurement by mass balance of carbon film residual from carbon dioxide-oxygen oxidation reaction. RESULTS: Preliminary results indicate that the hybrid material has greater electrical resistivity, relatively low density, increased tensile strength (74.5 kPa), a maximum CO sub(2) capture of 28.0 gm/min during a 160 minute period and is capable of regeneration of 16.0 gm/min O sub(2) in a 160 minute period via enzymatic catalysis. Ongoing work is aimed at optimizing enzyme immobilization techniques for increasing CO sub(2)/O sub(2) conversion. DISCUSSION: The central idea is to build a material which can support a self sustaining environment. Man- made polymers or materials, while they may be more efficient, are not cost effective and/or found on Mars, and thus, could not be a part of a sustainable system. While methyl cellulose is not found on Mars, this material can be obtained from plant refuse from the ECLSS system elsewhere in the habitat.