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TEM Studies of Protective Al Coatings on Kapton H

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Judith C. Yang ,
Huiping Xu ,
Long Li ,
Deborah Waters  and
Bruce Banks
Judith C. Yang
Affiliation:
Materials Science & Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Huiping Xu*
Affiliation:
Materials Science & Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Long Li
Affiliation:
Materials Science & Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Deborah Waters
Affiliation:
NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH
Bruce Banks
Affiliation:
NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH
*
* Corresponding author
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Abstract

Polymeric materials undergo rapid erosion when exposed to the harsh low-earth-orbit (LEO) environment. Coatings can reduce the erosion rate of polyimide Kapton from atomic oxygen (AO) attack. Specifically, we are investigating how thin Al coatings can protect Kapton. Protective Al layers with variations in layer thickness and growth conditions were deposited on Kapton H. The quality of these protective coatings were evaluated by mass loss measurement and compared to Kapton alone and the SiO2 coating, where dramatically decreased erosion rate was noted. To understand how these coatings protect Kapton as well as how the AO interacts with the coatings, we are investigating the microstructure of these coated materials by plane view and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) methods. To understand the AO degradation mechanism, we attempted to correlate the mass loss with growth conditions and microstructures. We noted a slight improvement in erosion resistance of the Al coating due to the presence of the dendrimer, but a major improvement when the Al coating is deposited under ultrahigh vacuum conditions.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 851: Symposium NN – Materials for Space Applications , 2004 , NN9.8
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2005

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References

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