Overview
- Researchers at Jilin University detected single-atom-thick, tube-like graphitic carbon in returned lunar regolith using high-resolution electron microscopy and complementary spectroscopy.
- Chemical signatures co-located with lunar mineral grains led the team to conclude the nanotubes are not contamination from Earth.
- The study in ACS Nano Letters reports the first confirmed natural occurrence of single-walled carbon nanotubes.
- Authors propose formation via micrometeorite impacts and iron-driven catalysis under early volcanic conditions with solar wind irradiation, while noting these pathways remain hypotheses.
- The finding points to unexpectedly complex lunar surface chemistry and offers potential guidance for future in-situ materials research and resource use.