Ashes from coal-fired power plants as potential lunar regolith simulants

In this article, nine ashes from Polish coal-fired power plants were analysed. The study examined whether these ashes could produce lunar or Martian regolith simulants. The ashes were compared in terms of phase composition and then subjected to morphological analysis based on SEM images. In the last stage, the thermal properties were characterised. The differential thermal analysis provided information on phase transitions, melting temperatures, and other characteristic temperatures of ashes that, in the future, will become regolith simulants. Thermogravimetry with Fourier transform infrared analysis provided information on gases released during heating, phase transition temperatures, and reactions occurring between ash components.