Development of Ca3(PO4)2 inorganic thermal-control coating used in harsh space environments

Passive thermal control coatings (TCC's) have been widely used to tune the thermal equilibrium of spacecraft surfaces since 1970s. Development of new TCC's with improved thermo-physical properties and radiation hardness are essential to the space assets that fly in harsh environments. Here...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Solar energy materials and solar cells 2022-04, Vol.237, p.111578, Article 111578
Main Authors: Lv, Jinpeng, Wen, Xiangyu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Absorptance
Absorptivity
Calcium phosphates
Coatings
Emittance
Extraterrestrial radiation
Fluence
Gallium oxides
Harsh environments
Irradiation
Orthophosphate
Physical properties
Protective coatings
Proton irradiation
Radiation
Radiation stability
Radiation tolerance
Space environment
Spacecraft
Surface temperature
Thermal control coating
Thermal control coatings
Tricalcium phosphate
Zinc oxide
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Summary:Passive thermal control coatings (TCC's) have been widely used to tune the thermal equilibrium of spacecraft surfaces since 1970s. Development of new TCC's with improved thermo-physical properties and radiation hardness are essential to the space assets that fly in harsh environments. Herein, we fabricated calcium orthophosphate based inorganic white paint, which possess relative low solar absorptance (αs) of 0.095 and thermal emittance (εH) of 0.88. Noticeably, the Ca3(PO4)2 coating shows excellent space radiation tolerance and thermal control capacity. After performing 90 keV proton irradiation at a fluence of 4×1015 cm-2, the αs of ZnO coating increases from 0.160 to 0.213 while the Ca3(PO4)2 coating rises from 0.095 to 0112, which only degrades one third (0.017) of the ZnO coating (0.053). Furthermore, after performing simulated solar irradiation test, the surface temperature of Ca3(PO4)2 paint is 14.4 °C lower than that of ZnO coating, evidencing its prominent thermal-optical performance. Besides, we also found that Ga2O3 based liquid-glass white paint is a good candidate for thermal equilibrium of spacecraft. A new inorganic white thermal control coating is developed based on calcium orthophosphate pigments and liquid glass binders, which shows superior thermo-optical feature and space radiation stability compared to the ZnO related traditional coatings. [Display omitted] •Ca3(PO4)2 TCC was developed with relative low solar absorptance (αs) of 0.095 and thermal emittance (εH) of 0.88.•After H+ irradiation, the αs of Ca3(PO4)2 paint degrades 0.017, only one third of ZnO paint degraded (0.053).•The surface temperature of Ca3(PO4)2 and Ga2O3 paints are 14.4 °C and 6.7 °C lower than that of ZnO coating, respectively.
ISSN:0927-0248
1879-3398
DOI:10.1016/j.solmat.2022.111578