Membrane-based processing for ambient water-group species captured on the moon and in space

A device for a membrane-based processing of ambient water-group species captured from an outside environment within a region of outer space not within a homosphere, comprising:

• a proton exchange membrane;
• topside and underside electrode contacts disposed on respective topside and underside faces of the proton exchange membrane;
• and,
• an ionic liquid disposed on the topside face of the proton exchange membrane on top of and in contact with the topside electrode contact as a drying agent to capture ambient water-group species from an outside environment within a region of outer space not within a homosphere, the ionic liquid being open to the outside environment;
• wherein the electrode contacts are adapted to apply an electric potential difference across the proton exchange membrane when connected to an electrical power supply or when forming a closed electrical circuit, whereby upon applying the electric potential difference across the proton exchange membrane at least some of the water-group species captured by the ionic liquid from the outside environment are urged to pass through the proton exchange membrane;
• and,
• wherein the ionic liquid has non-volatility to not evaporate into the outside environment, hygroscopy to capture the water-group species from the outside environment, and ionic conductivity to provide an electrically conductive medium in which the water-group species are mobile.

A device for a membrane-based processing of ambient water-group species captured from an outside environment within a region of outer space not within a homosphere, comprising:

• a hydroxide exchange membrane;
• topside and underside electrode contacts disposed on respective topside and underside faces of the hydroxide exchange membrane;
• and,
• an ionic liquid disposed on the topside face of the hydroxide exchange membrane on top of and in contact with the topside electrode contact as a drying agent to capture ambient water-group species from an outside environment within a region of outer space not within a homosphere, the ionic liquid being open to the outside environment;
• wherein the electrode contacts are adapted to apply an electric potential difference across the hydroxide exchange membrane when connected to an electrical power supply or when forming a closed electrical circuit, whereby upon applying the electric potential difference across the hydroxide exchange membrane at least some of the water-group species captured by the ionic liquid from the outside environment are urged to pass through the hydroxide exchange membrane;
• and,
• wherein the ionic liquid has non-volatility to not evaporate into the outside environment, hygroscopy to capture the water-group species from the outside environment, and ionic conductivity to provide an electrically conductive medium in which the water-group species are mobile.

A device for a membrane-based processing of ambient water-group species captured from an outside environment within a region of outer space not within a homosphere, comprising:

• a bipolar membrane;
• topside and underside electrode contacts disposed on respective topside and underside faces of the bipolar membrane;
• and,
• an ionic liquid disposed on the topside face of the bipolar membrane on top of and in contact with the topside electrode contact as a drying agent to capture ambient water-group species from an outside environment within a region of outer space not within a homosphere, the ionic liquid being open to the outside environment;
• wherein the electrode contacts are adapted to apply an electric potential difference across the bipolar membrane when connected to an electrical power supply or when forming a closed electrical circuit, whereby upon applying the electric potential difference across the bipolar membrane at least some of the water-group species captured by the ionic liquid from the outside environment are urged to pass through the bipolar membrane;
• and,
• wherein the ionic liquid has non-volatility to not evaporate into the outside environment, hygroscopy to capture the water-group species from the outside environment, and ionic conductivity to provide an electrically conductive medium in which the water-group species are mobile.

A device for a membrane-based processing of ambient water-group species captured from an outside environment within a region of outer space not within a homosphere, comprising:

• a semipermeable membrane configured for proton exchange and hydroxide exchange;
• topside and underside electrode contacts disposed on respective topside and underside faces of the semipermeable membrane;
• and,
• an ionic liquid disposed on the topside face of the semipermeable membrane on top of and in contact with the topside electrode contact as a drying agent to capture ambient water-group species from an outside environment within a region of outer space not within a homosphere, the ionic liquid being open to the outside environment;
• wherein the electrode contacts are adapted to apply an electric potential difference across the semipermeable membrane when connected to an electrical power supply or when forming a closed electrical circuit, whereby upon applying the electric potential difference across the semipermeable membrane at least some of the water-group species captured by the ionic liquid from the outside environment are urged to pass through the semipermeable membrane;
• and,
• wherein the ionic liquid has non-volatility to not evaporate into the outside environment, hygroscopy to capture the water-group species from the outside environment, and ionic conductivity to provide an electrically conductive medium in which the water-group species are mobile.

A device for a membrane-based processing of ambient water-group species captured from an outside environment within a region of outer space not within a homosphere, comprising:

• a water-permeable semipermeable membrane;
• topside and underside electrode contacts disposed on respective topside and underside faces of the water-permeable semipermeable membrane;
• and,
• an ionic liquid disposed on the topside face of the water-permeable semipermeable membrane on top of and in contact with the topside electrode contact as a drying agent to capture ambient water-group species from an outside environment within a region of outer space not within a homosphere, the ionic liquid being open to the outside environment;
• wherein the electrode contacts are adapted to apply an electric potential difference across the water-permeable semipermeable membrane when connected to an electrical power supply or when forming a closed electrical circuit, whereby upon applying the electric potential difference across the water-permeable semipermeable membrane at least some of the water-group species captured by the ionic liquid from the outside environment are urged to pass through the water-permeable semipermeable membrane;
• and,
• wherein the ionic liquid has non-volatility to not evaporate into the outside environment, hygroscopy to capture the water-group species from the outside environment, and ionic conductivity to provide an electrically conductive medium in which the water-group species are mobile.

A device for a membrane-based processing of water-group species captured from an outside environment, comprising:

• a semipermeable membrane;
• topside and underside electrode contacts disposed on respective topside and underside faces of the semipermeable membrane;
• and,
• an ionic liquid disposed on the topside face of the semipermeable membrane on top of and in contact with the topside electrode contact as a drying agent to capture water-group species from an outside environment;
• wherein the electrode contacts are adapted to apply an electric potential difference across the semipermeable membrane when connected to an electrical power supply or when forming a closed electrical circuit, whereby upon applying the electric potential difference across the semipermeable membrane at least some of the water-group species captured by the ionic liquid from the outside environment are urged to pass through the semipermeable membrane;
• and,
• wherein the ionic liquid has non-volatility to not evaporate into the outside environment, hygroscopy to capture the water-group species from the outside environment, and ionic conductivity to provide an electrically conductive medium in which the water-group species are mobile.

A device for a membrane-based processing of ambient water-group species captured from an environment within a region of outer space not within a homosphere, comprising:

• a device body;
• and,
• an outer space environment located within a region of outer space not within a homosphere;
• the device body, further comprising:
• a semipermeable membrane having a topside face and an underside face;
• a topside electrode contact disposed on the topside face of the semipermeable membrane;
• an underside electrode contact disposed on the underside face of the semipermeable membrane;
• an ionic liquid disposed as an outermost layer on the topside electrode contact, wherein the ionic liquid acts as a drying agent to capture ambient water-group species from the outer space environment outside the device body;
• a configuration of the ionic liquid layer, wherein an outermost face of the ionic liquid layer is open to the outer space environment outside the device body, whereby the ionic liquid layer is directly exposed to impingement from an incident flux of the ambient water-group species present in the outer space environment;
• wherein the electrode contacts are adapted to apply an electric potential difference across the semipermeable membrane when connected to an electrical power supply or when forming a closed electrical circuit, whereby upon applying the electric potential difference across the semipermeable membrane at least some of the water-group species captured by the ionic liquid from the outer space environment are urged to pass through the semipermeable membrane;
• and,
• wherein the ionic liquid has non-volatility to not evaporate into the outer space environment, hygroscopy to capture the water-group species from the outer space environment, and ionic conductivity to provide an electrically conductive medium in which the water-group species are mobile.