IMPACT: Ionic Molecular Propellants Advanced Collision analysis Technique

Electrospray thrusters are a subset of electric propulsion (EP) systems that use conductive ionic liquids as propellants and electrostatically accelerate ions from a sharp emitter tip to form a plume. The ionic liquid propellants are composed of complex organic cations and anions which have much different chemical composition and properties compared to the typical noble gas electric propulsion propellants. Because these ionic liquid propellants are novel in use and have unique chemical properties (e.g. condensable in vacuum), there is a need for researchers to understand the interactions of their plumes with surfaces. While noble gas ion-surface interactions have decades of research due their nearly ubiquitous use among EP systems, the surface interactions of complex ions are hypothesized to be much different. For example, they may deposit at low energies, or form new product ions at high energies. Both experiments and simulation indicate that particles from the plume impact thruster and spacecraft surfaces like the extractor electrode, resulting in propellant accumulation and eventual device failure. However, there is a wide gap in the knowledge of the fundamental physics of these molecular ion-surface collisions at the nanoscale and how they ultimately impact thruster lifetime and performance. In conjunction with Advanced Space Transit and Architectures Lab (ASTRALab) at Cornell University, I will characterize ionic liquid ion-surface interactions for the range of conditions relevant to thruster operation. I will first conduct molecular dynamics simulations involving discrete particles to predict collision products as a function of ion type, surface characteristics, and impact energy. These results will provide insight into impact products and will inform ion-beam collision experiments. Next, I will develop secondary ion mass spectrometry as a novel diagnostic technique for electrospray systems to study collision products. Finally, I will leverage complimentary diagnostics to assess the time-integrated effects of collisions on surfaces. My work will characterize the secondary emission of electrospray plume impacts with spacecraft surfaces and establish secondary ion mass spectrometry as an electrospray diagnostic, thus actively contributing to the raising of the TRL of electrospray systems.

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