Protection of Kapton from atomic oxygen attack by SiOx/NiCr coating

Atomic-Oxygen-Durable and Antistatic α-AlxTiyO/γ-NiCr Coating on Kapton for Aerospace Applications

“…51−53 Generally, the adhesion between metal coatings and pristine Kapton substrates approximately range from 7 × 10 −3 to 1.2 × 10 −2 N mm −1 , 54 while our previous work has demonstrated the adhesion between NiCr coating and implanted Kapton is 1.75 ± 0.16 N mm −1 . 3 Therefore, we believe that inorganic Al x Ti y O/ NiCr coating with elevated mechanical stability can be deposited on the Kapton substrate via IIP, FCVA, and HiPIMS.…”

“…Phase structures were analyzed using a transmission electron microscope (TEM, TECNAI G20). Adhesive strength and crack resistance were evaluated with a microscratch tester (RST 3 ). The applied constant load was 1 N, and the scratch length was 5.00 mm with a speed of 1.00 mm min −1 .…”

“…During the process of IIP, the interconnection bond networks can be established on the subsurface of the polymer between the implanted species and the polymer unit due to ion stitching and mechanical interlocking effects. 3 The focused ion beam bombardment generated by the magnetic lens in FCVA will promote local epitaxial growth and transformation of the solid solution state. 28 Moreover, the coatings deposited by FCVA always present the characteristics of high compactness, uniformity, and smoothness due to the filtration effect.…”

“…Polyimides, such as Kapton HN, are attracting attention for aerospace applications due to their excellent flexibility, lightweight, thermo-optical, and dielectric properties. − Kapton, which is often applied to solar array multilayer isolation systems, thermal control systems, and solar sails, is exposed to the harsh space environment. In the low earth orbit (LEO), external spacecraft materials are subjected to various hazards, such as atomic oxygen (AO), ultraviolet (UV), thermal cycles, debris, and charged particle bombardment. − Currently, various approaches have grown up around the theme of mitigating the AO erosion of Kapton.…”

The Atomic Oxygen Erosion Resistance Effect and Mechanism of the Perhydropolysilazane-Derived SiOx Coating Used on Polymeric Materials in Space Environment

“…The good AO erosion-resistance and good adhesion cannot be obtained simultaneously by the inorganic coating. In recent years, in order to solve this problem, gradient coating was proposed, which can improve the bonding performance of coatings by establishing a gradient structure and gradient composition, such as coatings prepared by LAD, plasma polymerization deposition, ion implantation (IIP), filter cathode vacuum arc (FCVA), and electron beam (E-beam) methods [18,23,24]. However, the instruments and procedures for preparing gradient coating are complex and expensive.…”