Iodine Satellites - Periodic Table of Videos

Iodine is the fuel in a new way to propel satellites.
More links and info in full description ↓↓↓
This video features Sir Martyn Poliakoff from the University of Nottingham.
More on the Iodine propulsion can be found at www.thrustme.fr
Paper... In-orbit demonstration of an iodine electric propulsion system: www.nature.com/articles/s4158...
Iodine video: • Iodine - Periodic Tabl...
Iodine Clock video: • Iodine Clock (slow mot...
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From the School of Chemistry at The University of Nottingham: bit.ly/NottChem
This episode was also generously supported by The Gatsby Charitable Foundation
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Brady's Blog: www.bradyharanblog.com
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[@inujosha]

As a kid, iodine was killing my ring worm. Now it's going to space. I'm so proud of iodine.

[@mathwithlucas258]

Lol

[@freggo6604]

What is your Ringworm doing in space? 🙂

[@inujosha]

@@freggo6604 He graduated. 😛

[@ChaseBlackmoon]

It's like what Homer Simpson said about donuts: iodine, is there anything it can't do?

[@alexisaac9032]

Xenon is an amazing element I love that it has such noble uses.

[@YourMJK]

Like Xenonite ;)

[@EdwinMunoz]

Ayeeee😂

[@tarmaque]

Stop gaslighting us. That's ignoble of you.

[@alexisaac9032]

@@tarmaque haha I am gonna steal that one 🤔😏😂😂🖖

[@GeorgeKusuma]

I haven't watched this channel for a while but it's good to be back

[@mastershooter64]

ohhh hey that's actually really smart! iodine sublimates, you can store it as a solid, it's mass is almost identical to xenon, damn I've never thought about that

[@trainwreck3697]

This feels like a research project that has real application and could probably make its inventors a boatload of money. Congrats to the researchers!

[@custos3249]

"ThrustMe" is nice enough, but given its symbol is "I" and it doesn't need a lot to have a large effect, missed opportunity - "iThrust"

[@kugelblitz-zx9un]

*JUST AT LOW PRICE OF $10 FKING BILLION DOLLARS, YOU COULD ENJOY iThrust,* but you have to purchase thrust seperately.

[@AgiHammerthief]

maybe Apple got the rights for it.

[@KuK137]

But then scumbags at Apple, company notorious for inventing nothing just stealing ideas then suing the rightful owners, would attack you. Just like they sued Samsung for daring to make rectangular phone, which was presented as Apple's greatest invention, even though stone tablets 6000 years ago had the same shape, LOL...

[@safepancake7551]

I think Apple has some sort of right for the I at the beginning

[@christianbeutler8119]

2:03 if you heat iodine, it actually (also) melts. The sublimation refers to the phase transition occurring because of its high vapor pressure. There is a very nice Nile Red video about it. In space (because of the low pressure) it probably only sublimates, but the description in the video is a bit misleading in my opinion. Otherwise great video!!

[@lewismassie]

The current set of Starlink satellites use Krypton. It not as performative as Xenon but is much cheaper. There was also some designs for mercury based ion thrusters, but they (rightfully) got banned for environmental reasons

[@webchimp]

Krypton, that was it. Knew they were using something different to xenon.

[@adamabele785]

Mercury interacts with the materials of the thruster like the grids and forms alloys that limit the lifespan.

[@nevim007]

Glad that mercury got banned. Imagine it could have poisoned all the life out there.

[@bungalowjuice7225]

Makes sense Elon want Krypton around the world

[@TheOriginalJphyper]

Dangit, KZbin. I subscribed to this channel so I could see new videos. That means I expect you to inform me of said new videos!

[@sock2828]

One of the cubesats being sent as a secondary payload on Artemis 1 next month uses solid iodine as the propellant source too. It's the "Team Miles" cubesat. They're planning on putting it into heliocentric orbit to demonstrate the teams thruster design, and also long range radio communication.

[@maicod]

you explain it SO clearly !

[@buzz.b]

I love iodine for its sublimation. Seeing it in-person always reminded me of nightcrawler, that puff of exotic violet as he disappears and reappears.

[@donaldinnewmexico]

Hi, Professor. This video is a gas!

[@periodicvideos]

Love seeing that emoji

[@Volodimar]

Once I had Iodine and it was a gas, soon turned out to be a thing of the thrust Seemed like the real thing, only to find Mucho misthrust, its gone behind

[@whazzup_teacup]

We had a lot of cool chemistry and physics demonstrations in middle school like making soap or filling a bottle with hydrogen and sending it flying with a match but we had very few cool things in high school. One high school thing was watching sublimation of iodine which is nothing compared to the previous but I still like iodine because of its biochemistry.

[@Torby4096]

Congratulations Neil!

[@douro20]

Adamantane (C10H16) has also been explored as a fuel for ion thrusters, particularly that of the Hall-effect type. ThrustMe's thruster is of the gridded ion type, but iodine fueled Hall-effect thrusters are also in the works.

[@josephpuentes4160]

Can we not test that in our atmosphere thx

[@douro20]

@@josephpuentes4160 They only work in a vacuum.

[@josephpuentes4160]

@@douro20 I say 2.0 x10^9 km minimum distance from any habitation

[@tarmaque]

This is fascinating. I hadn't heard about it before, but it just makes sense.

[@morellalizziediamond]

Just found this channel Thank you!

[@murad19882003]

I wish teaching was this good at schools.

[@SeanBZA]

If you arrange your electron gun correctly you can also use the velocity of the electrons you emit as additional thrust. Not much thrust per electron, but you can get them up to pretty high velocity using grids and ring anodes, so generate an appreciable amount of extra thrust as well from the charge balancing. 3 small ones around the main positive ion engine and you also get small amounts of thrust vectoring as well, using different acceleration voltages per gun. Yes you have to activate the cathodes in space after launch, but as a bonus no need to worry about the tube getting contaminated with adsorbed gas, as you have all the vacuum you will ever need.

[@Relkond]

KISS design does have some advantages - it tends to be cheaper and lighter. You may get more acceleration from firing the electrons off at relativistic speeds - but will that make up for the mass of the extra equipment, and the power to run it (a bigger solar panels - more mass, perhaps a larger battery - more mass)

[@1224chrisng]

is there some way to angle them slightly to get roll control? I imagine you can angle one opposing pair slightly one way, and the other pair the other way, but that might in turn lose pitch or yaw authority

[@DogsaladSalad]

So good to see the professor!

[@Miata822]

Very clever. I do follow spaceflight things but had not heard of this. Thanks!

[@jimsvideos7201]

Well that's intriguing, thank you for talking about it!

[@billynomates920]

how interesting. excellent video as always.

[@irwainnornossa4605]

This is pretty amazing.

[@scrotiemcboogerballs1981]

Thanks for sharing professor

[@boredgrass]

After a month without new video, I was getting concerned! My best wishes for the summer! The smell of Iodine at the doctor's practice, a childhood memory.

[@shadimurwi7170]

Good job Sir

[@chabis]

Dry ice sublimates too. Just: - 1 x C + 2 x O is still much lighter than 1 x I - What are compounds doing in high voltage fields? Would it accelerate the same way? - Storage on Earth is hard since it needs to be stored cold. Otherwise all you get is just high pressure gas.

[@Amprobiuss]

Looooking goooood prof so good to see you💫🕊🌳

[@calderarecords]

Love you Professor! 🥰

[@anthonyberube946]

I love your videos ❤️

[@Ergzay]

The other important note about Xenon is that only a few tons of it is produced every year globally. If you were to make a large satellite constellation of it, you'd consume most of the world's production of it. This is why SpaceX's Starlink constellation instead chose Krypton instead of Xenon for it's propulsion method. Iodine would probably be better if you can solve any oxidation issues from the Iodine.

[@lmwlmw4468]

Very nice.

[@carlubambi5541]

Love playing with iodine in high school .got into alot of trouble .very messy and purple stains everywhere .Amazing what you can do with iodine flakes and floor cleaner !

[@ZomBeeNature]

Oh ha! I bet it looked very snappy!

[@411Adidas]

I also regularly use small bursts of gas to propel myself forward.

[@billboyd4051]

It helps slow you down on elevators as well.

[@Nico_LaBras]

I was blown away at school when I learned that Ion Thrusters were a real thing and not just some sci-fi bs

[@pedro.nasaES]

GRACIAS

[@BRUXXUS]

This is one of those ideas that makes you wonder why it wasn’t always done like this.

[@daa3417]

Small satellites are very new.

[@blueredbrick]

So Xenon, Krypton and now Iodine have been used in ion thrusters? Any other propellants ?

[@SolarWebsite]

These are probably the best.

[@1224chrisng]

a while ago on SciShow, I heard that people were using Teflon for cubesats because it's a solid inert block, it's like a spring loaded cube that grates against the ionizing mechanism Caesium is of course the best propellent, power-wise, as Scott Manley pointed out, but it's too reactive in most cases. Hydrogen is still the best mass-wise, but ion engines are usually efficient enough anyways, so people worry about thrust more

[@orbitONhigh]

i worked in a lab in college that was testing zinc magnesium and bismuth in ion drives.

[@ferretyluv]

Can you make a video more in detail about iodine sublimating? I heard from NileRed that it’s not truly sublimating.

[@mikegLXIVMM]

Why don't they use a reaction wheel or a control moment gyro(CMG)?

[@donaldhoot7741]

Eye-o-dine not Eeee-ya-deen! Great video! Oh and aluminum not aluminium.

[@AtomsLab]

I just got Starlink internet set up the other day, it's the only internet service available at my new home. Very cool tech they use to keep the satellites up! Never knew you could use iodine in such an interesting way for a rocket engine. Edit: Apparently starlink uses Krypton, but still very cool stuff! TIL

[@pk10x]

One century we'll be arguing about polluting space with corrosive materials

[@dhananjaysawant4646]

2:08 Iodine does not sublime under earth pressure(air pressure and gravity) but has a short liquid phase of only 71 degrees centigrade. Arsenic does sublime though and is the only element to do so at earth pressure(even carbon has a short liquid phase)

[@karhukivi]

That should be 5 degrees C, not 71.

[@fletchergorman1053]

Would you please do one on VSEPR theory?

[@Electronzap]

That's pretty cool. Converting electricity into thrust.

[@hovant6666]

Xenon is such a cool element, but it's great that a more abundant element can be used for ion drives

[@LuukvdHoogen]

So the charged ions 'push back' at nothing more than the magnetic field when they leave the motor, if I understand correctly? Kind of like pushing a fridge magnet from a distance.?

[@cdl0]

No, iodine ions are accelerated to an extremely high speed by an electric field inside the device, which generates thrust in accord with Newton's laws, similar to any other rocket engine. The iodine ions are subsequently neutralized electrically by a beam of electrons that is nearly collinear with the iodine ion beam.

[@CodeLeeCarter]

Time travel to the future and Earth has a Iodine cloud orbiting it's body,... Loolz!

[@47f0]

This is absolutely astounding news. Until this video, I never even suspected that chemists could do physics.

[@GR3YS0RG4N1CS]

"Physical chemists" and "chemical physicists", it's kinda in the name lol

[@thekaxmax]

Neumann Space has one that uses aluminium wire. Can use recycled satellites.

[@MediaSubliminal]

I just received my shipment of KI (potassium iodide) today, and turned a small amount of it into elemental iodine, and then this video was in my suggestions. YT is watching! Iodine is one of my favorite elements. As far as the halogens go, it is the safest to handle and store, and it's very neat to experiment with this element.

[@sashimanu]

Ion thrusters require heavy elements to work - the heavier the merrier

[@davidpederson2905]

Even better than elemental iodine would be to use periodic acid (H5IO6) since this is the Periodic Videos channel...

[@marsspacex6065]

The first generation of Starlink satellites used krypton instead of Xeon because its cheaper and SpaceX developed a new thruster for the second generation of satellites that uses Argon. So Krypton and Argon are now the most widely used gases for ion propulsion as Starlink is by far the biggest satellite constellation in the world.

[@quarteratom]

How small is the engine? Satellites come in all sizes, from decimeters to meters. If you show a satellite, you should explain its size.

[@bigsarge2085]

👍👍

[@UdahamulleNdarathanaHimi]

❤️❤️❤️

[@danielbickford3458]

Couldn't you use any room temperature solid? It just would depend on adding more energy to the system to get it to sublimate wouldn't it?

[@mduckernz]

You can but performance would be low. You want something that is both high mass and doesn’t require much energy to dissociate/convert to charged form. Both xenon and iodine fit this description

[@danielbickford3458]

@@mduckernz nifty

[@NatetheAceOfficial]

Periodic Videos KSP let's play when?

[@nigeljohnson9820]

It's a good job 9th is past dates star trek, or there would be a story line about the incompatibility between iodine engines and di-lithium crystals :-) (Yes, I do know that di-lithium does not exist.)

[@MASTERVISHWASH]

You are still alive man.. Haaa😀😀 i saw you 12 years ago... Then I was thinking you are about to.... 😅 but sorry don't mind ur doing a great work 🥲😘😘

[@arcanics1971]

Wow.

[@unvergebeneid]

I would expect many substances to sublimate in the near-vacuum of an engine in space 🤔

[@alexv3357]

Natural sublimation doesn't provide the performance necessary for manoeuvring and orbit-keeping. Vastly higher exhaust velocities are needed for these purposes. Interestingly enough, very low orbit satellites can sometimes actually use air, taken in in the manner of a ramjet and heated electrically to a plasma

[@Bhatakti_Hawas]

👌

[@STEVEARABIA1]

How long will these last in space? Won’t it just sublimate on its own fairly quickly?

[@roberttelarket4934]

I myself emit powerful gases!

[@ZomBeeNature]

Iodine! As a rocket fuel! What a clever idea! And it won't have goiter!

[@KairuHakubi]

Just as Mrs. Glick said "They never improved on iodine"

[@eyesea123]

Words spelled out in this video are speeded up and have subliminal letters flashed. Why?

[@AnshulKumar-mq5ig]

sir i am anshul great fan of periodic videos

[@alexander92ck]

What about krypton? Same problem as Xenon?

[@orbitONhigh]

yep and krypton is lower performance as well. but it is cheaper.

[@PBeringer]

Hmm, so the Prof. keeps bulbs of nitrous oxide in his office, eh ... ? 🤔 On a serious note, are the ions given relativistic mass by their acceleration or does that require a lot more energy? Or is it that *any* acceleration increases a particle or object's mass? Fairly confident that I don't properly understand the concept, or that I'm conflating two different concepts. Haha. Help ...

[@mistaowickkuh6249]

Isn't Iodine fairly rare though? How sustainable would this be?

[@Volodimar]

Not as rare as xenon

[@Mnemo85]

I want these in Kerbal Space Program.

[@Jhh241]

Nice so now can we fill our card with it instead of traditional gas?

[@mojosbigsticks]

If it comes back through the atmosphere, and mixes in the clouds, do we get Purple Rain?

[@anonviewerciv]

Easier to store and work with solids than gases. (2:00)

[@sciencegeekgrandpa8]

Sounds good, but Xenon is also completely inert. I'm pretty sure that I2- is horrifically reactive. Maybe they don't intend these motors to last all that long...

[@krissp8712]

I think the further down group 17 you go and the larger the halides get the less reactive they tend to be. It's definitely not as horrible as say chlorine.

[@mduckernz]

It shouldn’t actually interact with the materials much in that state - the magnetic coils keep it entrained

[@nareshkumar4207]

Can you kindly give me the permission to translate your videos in to the Indian language tamil? Please kindly consider my request.

[@phonotical]

1w is a lot in space, to get above that negative 300 some odd degrees? Wow

[@red.aries1444]

It's a pretty good idea to spread some Iodine into space, so it becomes a little bit more purplish.

[@billboyd4051]

Its a shame auto and truck exhaust isn't more colorful, There's nothing like a colorful dying planet.

[@unvergebeneid]

1:32 I regularly use small gas cylinders like this. Not with xenon gas though... 😏

[@billboyd4051]

Whip cream perhaps ?

[@beeble2003]

1:58 Come on, people. You do not need four citations for the claim "Propulsion is a critical subsystem of many spacecraft."

[@mareksicinski3726]

Well iodine does melt, just under different conditions

[@kichukmenon]

Iodine and satellite are two thing I never thought were connected.

[@captaincook632]

I want to see satellites going interstellar

[@TallowTheQuoll]

Probably a stupid question, but why wouldn't you want your satellite ending up negatively charged.

[@billboyd4051]

It probably wreaks havoc with onboard electronics as it builds up.

[@orbitONhigh]

all ion drives have a neutralizer beam in addition to main drive to stop that from happening.

[@pruusnhanna4422]

They named the engine ThrustMe. Somebody knows what they're doing.

[@abighairyspider]

….become more and more electrically charged… like a comet relative to the charge of the sun, imho

[@schautamatic]

As long as you have DEA approval, demonstrating that you won’t use iodine to produce meth in space. 😄

[@chrismusix5669]

Space Thyroids.

[@MichaelTheMoron]

iodine lore

[@JohnLeePettimoreIII]

NI3 😉

[@ZomBeeNature]

Very snappy answer

[@immameme]

WowCoolImma1st

[@DenisKz]

Wait, what? isn't there an Iodine shortage on Earth, why would we blast it into space?

[@davidpescod7573]

Sorry, I think you will find iodine does go through a liquid phase, at least on earth

[@KaiseruSoze]

hmmm... iodine is really corrosive though - isn't it?

[@tarmaque]

It shouldn't matter. You're controlling the gas with electromagnetism. It should never touch the walls of the thruster, and in its solid storage phase it can be contained with non-corrosive elements. Although, it's possible it would react with the acceleration grid. Hmm. Something to think about.

[@orbitONhigh]

@@tarmaque actually wall erosion is a primary life limiter of these types of drives. most of the prop misses the walls and grids but the small percent does it.

[@SciDOCMBC]

I'm sorry to say that here, but iodine does NOT sublime at normal atmospheric pressure. It has been shown countless times that heated iodine first becomes a liquid before it goes into the gas phase. It would have been important to mention that, in fact, there is still this misinformation that iodine sublimates under all circumstances.

[@karhukivi]

Not atmospheric pressure in space, - At

[@SciDOCMBC]

@@karhukivi maybe you should retrain your skills. Water also goes directly from the solid to the gas phase in a vacuum. But there was never any mention of a vacuum. A chemist should be professional enough to state such facts, especially since it is known that incorrect information is circulating, especially with iodine.

[@karhukivi]

@@SciDOCMBC No mention of a vacuum? The iodine was used for manoeuvring a satellite in space. Your skills - and that includes your manners - seem to be very poor.