October 2025
Making Water Out of Rocks and Rocks Out of Water
Dr. Ryan Fortenberry, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Mississippi.
Water can be produced from rocks as shown by experiments on lunar regolith simulant. We are able to explain the actual chemistry of such processes through quantum chemical techniques. Water forms from passing H2 gas over mineral-based molecular nanoclusters in the presence of sunlight. The production of water from rocky materials opens the prospect of water production for Lunar or Martian colonies as well as in regions of the Earth with little rainfall or drought. Additionally, the reverse of these processes also helps to explain how planets and rocky bodies likely formed in the early Universe. Hence, the processes that created the Earth may also help us to explore beyond it.
Tuesday, October 21, 2025, 6:00pm - 7:00pm
Heartbreak Coffee, 265 North Lamar Blvd, Oxford
And via Zoom
You can also listen to our podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts! We hope you enjoy listening to them as much as we enjoyed making them!
Sponsors
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Some of the material in this website is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. PHY-1067985. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recomendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF).Photos
