I just caught a video the other day about manufacturing on the moon. He referred to this kind of research being a potential game changer for lunar colonization.

There are many metal oxides on the moon, and if you were trying to construct a habitat then a reduction reaction gives you industrial feedstocks and Oxygen to breathe. But electrolytic refinement of aluminum produces CO2 via the sacrificial anode, so you need a different chemistry to avoid that, or a steady graphite supply and a lot of photosynthesis.

He also mentioned that you can use electrolysis to refine iron, but that we have cheaper (but much heavier) terrestrial options.