Nanophase Iron of New Nano‐Lamella and Zoned Morphology Discovered in a Lunar Meteorite
Zhichen Zhao, Ruizhi Zhou, Renkang Song, Lihui Li, Zhou Zhou, Chao Wang, Wei Teng, Kunkun Fu, Zhengwu Jiang, Hengci Tian, Huan Xie, Yu Huang, Bofeng Li, Markus B. Raschke, Zhanshan Wang, Xiao Ma, Xiaohua Tong, Tao Jiang, Hu ZhengAbstract
Nanophase iron (np‐), as one of the key products of space weathering, is widely observed in the near‐surface layer of lunar materials, providing crucial evidence for their geological evolution. Here we report the discovery of np‐ with a rare lamellar morphology, embedded in Fe‐Ti‐Cr oxide solid solutions within the interior of the lunar meteorite NWA 4734, characterized by nanometer‐scale thicknesses and micrometer‐scale lateral dimensions. Notably, these lamellae exhibit a unique three‐layer core‐shell structure, consisting of np‐ core, ‐bearing shell, and ilmenite‐dominated outer layer. This finding offers new insights into the formation process of np‐ in lunar materials through thermal decomposition and disproportionation associated with impact events and space weathering, and reveals a novel pathway for nanomaterial synthesis under extreme conditions.