Measurement of ferric iron in Chang’e-5 impact glass beads

Abstract The lunar surface and interior are highly reducing, resulting in the virtually absence of ferric ion. However, recent studies suggest the presence of ferric iron in lunar samples, and in most cases they were found in amorphous silicates (e.g., glass beads) measured by TEM–EELS. In this work, we conducted a systematic TEM–EELS analysis on the iron valence states of Chang’e-5 impact glass beads. The Fe 3+ /ΣFe ratio of each silicate glass sample was determined from integral intensity of Fe L 3 and L 2 edge. The measurements show a positive correlation between the dwell time and Fe 3+ /ΣFe ratio, which reveals that ferric iron can be significantly produced by electron beam bombardment under routine analytical condition. The calculated Fe 3+ /ΣFe with short dwell times (≤ 20 ms) in our Chang’e-5 impact glass beads show no detectable inherent ferric iron, suggesting that the ferric iron is not ubiquitous as previously reported. It is obvious that a careful control of experiment conditions is critical to determine the inherent redox state of other beam-sensitive terrestrial and extraterrestrial samples. Graphical Abstract