Polymer Coatings with Glass Bubbles for Thermal Radiation Control in Space

This CAN proposal focuses on utilizing the resources and expertise in the research group of Prof. Jaeho Lee in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) to support NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). In particular, the proposed research will advance thermal control technologies that are relevant to Living and Working in Space among the four principal Mission areas of MSFC. The proposed research will improve our understanding of radiative heat transfer by polymer coatings and contribute to providing thermal management solutions, in which astronauts safely live and work in extreme environments in deep space and electronics are maintained within operating temperatures in reliable and efficient manners. The CAN project will support these activities by developing innovative polymer coatings with glass bubbles, in which their unique effects of structural hierarchy and large interface density enable a lightweight, flexible, and scalable solution to thermal radiation control. By integrating a large concentration of glass bubbles within a polymer film, the proposed polymer coating can provide desired optical and thermal properties including a combination of high solar reflectivity and high infrared emissivity for radiative cooling. Glass bubbles allow substantially lower weight and larger interface density compared to other designs using solid spheres, and the large interface density is important for selective optical control. Polymers such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) not only allow flexibility but also a cast molding process to create surface texture that can provide further optical control. Prof. Lee offers his expertise in radiative heat transfer, materials developments, and thermal characterization. The CAN project will provide unique material solutions and thermal control technologies that will be useful for flexible and deployable habitat structures and that will support NASA’s Artemis program and related projects to return humans to the Moon. The outcomes of this project will not only lead to innovations in spacecraft thermal control but also a new fundamental understanding of relationships between hierarchical morphologies, emissivity, and temperature.

The proposed project at the start of the effort targets advances in a fundamental understanding of relationships between microscale morphology and spectral emissivity, and the PI expects to see basic principles observed and reported, which falls under TRL 1 according to the TRL descriptions provided by NASA. Accordingly, the proposed research will generate scientific knowledge underpinning hardware technology concepts and have peer-reviewed publications of research underlying the proposed concept, which is to achieve high solar reflectivity, high infrared emissivity, and lightweight within flexible materials by unique surface texture and glass bubbles.

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