Growth of polyimide-mica nanocomposite movie with excessive resistance to low-Earth-orbit environments

Polyimide (PI) composite movies are broadly used on the exterior surfaces of spacecraft to guard them from the adversarial environments of low Earth orbit (LEO) as a result of their excellent complete efficiency. Nevertheless, present PI composite movies have insufficient mechanical properties and atomic oxygen (AO) resistance.

In a research printed in Superior Supplies, a analysis staff led by Prof. Yu Shuhong from College of Science and Expertise of China (USTC) of the Chinese language Academy of Sciences proposed a novel double-layer nacre-inspired structural design technique, and fabricated a brand new PI-based nanocomposite movie with drastically enhanced mechanical properties and AO resistance.

Impressed by the brick-and-mortar microstructure of pure nacre, researchers assembled mica nanosheets and PI right into a double-layer nacre-inspired construction with a a lot larger density of mica within the high layer, which was achieved by way of an easy spray assisted meeting adopted by a thermo-curing course of.

By optimizing the element proportions and high layer thickness, the mechanical properties of the double-layer PI-Mica movie have been considerably enhanced. The tensile energy, Younger’s modulus, and floor hardness of the double-layer movie have been 45 p.c, one hundred pc, and 68 p.c larger than these of pure PI movies, respectively.

By advantage of the distinctive double-layer nacre-inspired construction and the intrinsic benefits of mica nanosheets, the obtained double-layer PI-Mica movie achieved significantly better AO resistance, UV getting old resistance (313 nm), and high-temperature stability (380 ℃) than pure PI movie. As well as, each AO fluence and erosion yield traits of the double-layer PI-Mica movie are superior to beforehand reported PI-based composites. Thus, this double-layer PI-Mica movie might function a brand new sort of aerospace protecting materials, changing current PI-based composite movies for LEO functions.

The distinctive double-layer nacre-inspired structural design offers a promising avenue for future design and fabrication of different high-performance bioinspired nanocomposites for numerous functions.