Scientists have demonstrated that it is possible to extract water into oxygen and hydrogen in the universe, while also creating breathing air and fuel for running ships.

This is the key to long-term space travel.

The article is based on a post on The Conversation by Charles W. Dunnill, a veteran Professor in Energy, currently teaching at Swansea University.

The plan for Mars over the next few years has been outlined by many space agencies and will not only go there to visit, this plan includes settling on the Red Planet. And yet, we are increasingly discovering Earth-like planets close to the Solar System, which makes space travel even more appealing.

However appealing, this still faces many technological obstacles as well as difficulties that come from the limits of the human body. One of the toughest challenges: we don't have enough oxygen to let the astronauts breathe when going too far and there is not enough fuel to operate the ship during the many years of traveling. In the universe there is no air but when the train has gone too far, we cannot refuel, the oxygen in the middle of the road.

But new research published in the journal Nature will open a new path for us! We can produce hydrogen as fuel, to create oxygen to breathe only from water! Using a semiconductor material and sunlight (or light from any star), we can create these two essential things in a zero gravity environment.

The Sun gives light to the Earth, and that light is also energy, but we still cannot fully utilize this abundant (almost) endless energy source. In the early stages, we are limiting the use of fossil fuels, scientists are aiming to use hydrogen as an alternative fuel source.

The best way to do this is to separate water - H2O from hydrogen and oxygen. Through electrolysis: put an electric current through the water containing electrolyte, water will be broken down into oxygen and hydrogen.

Hydrogen and oxygen obtained through electrolysis can be used as fuel for spacecraft. Benefits have not stopped there. When launching a spaceship with water, this process is obviously more secure than a ship filled with flammable materials and oxygen. Upon reaching the universe, the electrolytic device will split water into hydrogen and oxygen: both maintaining life and maintaining the ship's operation.

There are two ways to do it.

The first is electrolysis the way we do on Earth, using electrolytes and solar cells to get sunlight, turning it into electricity for electrolysis.

The second way is called "photo catalyst - photocatalyst". The device will absorb photons, deliver and semiconductors that are submerged in water. Electrons in the semiconductor will draw energy from photons, eject and leave holes. These escaped electrons will interact with protons in the nucleus of a water atom and create hydrogen. The hole that the electron leaves can suck electrons from water to make protons and oxygen.

Photocatalysis catalyzes hydrogen gas from water.

Photocatalytic process can be reversed. Using fuel cells, which can combine oxygen and hydrogen to form energy, this energy will be used to operate the devices. The by-product of the reverse photocatalyst will be water only, meaning water can be recycled. This is an important key in space travel with great distances.

Photocatalytic method is the brightest candidate in space travel, when the equipment needed for this process is also much more compact than electrolysis. In theory, this process in the Universe is even easier, when the power from sunlight is much stronger when there is no shielded Earth's atmosphere.

First of all, it must handle the bubbles that appear in the water.

In the new study, the researchers dropped the photocatalyst device from a 120-meter-high tower top, creating an environment similar to the micro-gravity. When an object falls freely, the force of gravity will be almost eliminated when it falls off. And when testing, they found that it is possible to separate water in this environment. However, they encounter an obstacle: when water splits into gas, bubbles form. The bubble will interfere with the new gas generation process, so the bubble must be eliminated to get the most efficient system.

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins is working with the tank of the Nitro / Oxygen Charging System on the ISS station.

In the Earth's condition, gravity causes the bubble to float automatically on the surface, leaving countless empty spaces to create gas. But in a zero gravity environment, bubbles will always stick around the catalyst. The researchers adjusted the catalyst at the nanoscale, creating pyramid-shaped areas so that bubbles could easily escape, swimming away from the catalyst.

But there is still another difficulty in the zero gravity environment: the bubble stays in the aqueous solution, no matter how far away it is from the catalyst.

Gravity allows gas to escape the solution easily, creating pure oxygen and hydrogen. But if there is no gravity, gas will form foam. The efficiency of the process of separating oxygen and hydrogen from water will no longer be effective.

Effective restrictions must be created for this system to function smoothly in the cosmic environment. There have been proposals to use centrifugal force from the spacecraft itself to separate gas from the solution.

The way for people to conquer the universe is still long. But don't worry, we are taking extremely solid steps to that future. Slow but sure, right? Thanks to the researchers for bringing humanity closer to the day people dominate the stars.