空间材料Kapton的真空紫外与原子氧复合效应研究

Experimental investigations of the respective and synergistic effects of vacuum ultraviolet radiation and atomic oxygen on a spacecraft material——Kapton

对空间常用聚合物材料Kapton开展了真空紫外辐射及其与原子氧复合效应的地面模拟试验研究 ,总结了试验前后试样外观、质量、表面形貌、光学参数和表面成分的变化规律 ,并对反应机理作了初步的分析 .结果表明 :在原子氧的作用下 ,Kapton的剥蚀主要是碳氮等元素的氧化所致 .而在真空紫外辐射的作用下 ,Kapton表面会交联形成大分子 ,从而提高了试样的抗原子氧剥蚀性能 .但是 ,随着原子氧累积通量的增大 ,这层大分子会逐渐被剥蚀掉 ,而真空紫外辐射 。

Kapton is a commonly used spacecraft material, on which the experiments are constructed to investigate the VUV (vacuum ultraviolet radiation) effects and its synergistic effects with AO (atomic oxygen) in a ground-based simulation facility. The sample materials before and after the tests are compared in appearance, mass loss, surface morphology, optical properties and surface composition. Through the analysis of the reaction mechanism between VUV, AO and Kapton, it was concluded that the oxidation of the carbon and nitrogen is the main reason of the erosion of Kapton. Because the sample surface will be cross-linking and form large molecule under VUV radiation, the AO-resistance characteristic of the sample is improved. But with the increasing of AO fluence, the effect disappears gradually, and the VUV cannot affect the results of the AO exposure experiment.