PHOTOSIL™ - A NEW SURFACE MODIFICATION TECHNIQUE FOR EROSION RESISTANCE IMPROVEMENT OF POLYMER-BASED MATERIALS IN LEO

摘要

A new process called PhotoSil™ has been developed to modify the surfaces of polymer materials to increase their resistance to atomic oxygen erosion. As a result of the modification process, a thin, modified, silicon oxide-based surface is created. The possibility of creating covalent bonds between the synthesized layer and the original material has been investigated using XPS analysis. The XPS results revealed that up to 34 at. % of silicon can be incorporated into the modified layer of the treated material. The chemical content of this layer was found to change from a silicon oxide-enriched surface to regions with Si incorporated into the cross-linked polymer structure. The results from SIMS depth profile analysis indicate that Si is distributed in a graded manner in the polymer material to a depth of 0.5 μm, forming a basis for a self-healing effect in atomic oxygen environment.