Experiments on dust removal performance of a novel PLZT driven lunar dust mitigation technique

Lunar dust removal has proved to be one of the most important issues to be solved in lunar exploration. A novel lunar dust removal technique based on the anomalous photovoltaic effect of lanthanum-modified lead zirconate titanate (PLZT) has been developed in our previous research which could be used for conductor surface dust mitigation. In this study, the working performance of this novel dust removal technique is investigated. Since the particle size of the dust has a strong influence on the lunar dust removal performance, the particle size range which is applicable for this technique is explored first. Then the relation between the dust particle size and charge is discussed theoretically and experimentally. An experimental platform is built up for testing the working performance of this technique and the results indicate that a 95% dust removal efficiency can be achieved on a 320 mm × 125 mm dust covered surface, which is very promising for future lunar dust mitigation.