中国科学院地质与地球物理研究所王伟、林杨挺和魏勇教授合作发现，在“嫦娥五号”较小粒径的月壤样品中探测到较高的含水量。相关论文于2024年5月25日发表于国际顶尖学术期刊《科学通报》杂志上。

据悉，已有研究对月壤样品单个颗粒的进行了分析，月壤中含水且有多种来源。然而，水在大块月壤中的主要来源仍然不确定。

本研究对来自“嫦娥五号”密封样品中的水分进行了光谱分析。研究人员在充满高纯度氮气的手套箱中，将样品筛选成不同大小的粒径(大块，＜45μm, 45-355μm)。研究结果表明，较细粒径月壤含水量(约87±11.9ppm)高于大块月壤含水量(约37±4.8 ppm)和粗粒月壤含水量(约11±1.5 ppm)。这表明水主要集中在风化层颗粒的最外缘，并且表现出对表面体积比(也称为表面相关性)的依赖关系，表明太阳风是月球表面水的主要来源。

实验室、原位和轨道结果将样品分析和遥感相结合，提供了对“嫦娥五号”所代表的月球表面水特征的综合理解。这一发现为月壤中水的起源提供了统计证据，可以被认为是月球表面条件的代表。最细粒径的水富集表明，采用月壤粒度分选作为未来月球研究站提取水资源的潜在技术方法是可行的。

附：英文原文

Title: Higher water content observed in smaller size fraction of Chang’e-5 lunar regolith samples

Author: Wei Yang a, Yangting Lin a, Yong Wei a

Issue&Volume: 2024/05/25

Abstract: Water has been detected in lunar regolith, with multiple sources identified through the analysis of individual grains. However, the primary origin of water in the bulk lunar regolith remains uncertain. This study presents spectroscopic analyses of water content in sealed Chang’e-5 samples. These samples were sieved into various size fractions (bulk, <45 μm, 45-355 μm) inside a glovebox filled with high-purity nitrogen. Results indicate a higher water content in the fine fractions (～87±11.9 ppm) than in bulk soil (～37±4.8 ppm) and coarse fractions (～11±1.5 ppm). This suggests that water is predominantly concentrated in the outermost rims of the regolith grains, and thus exhibits dependence on the surface volume ratio (also known as surface correlation), indicating solar wind is a primary source of lunar surface water. Laboratory, in-situ, and orbital results bridge sample analysis and remote sensing, offering a cohesive understanding of lunar surface water characteristics as represented by Chang’e-5. The discovery provides statistical evidence for the origin of water in lunar soil and can be considered representative of the lunar surface conditions. The water enrichment of the finest fraction suggests the feasibility of employing size sorting of lunar soils as a potential technological approach for water resource extraction in future lunar research stations.

DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2024.05.031

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2095927324003815