Development of Space Qualified High Solar Absorptance Nanostructured Black CuO Coating for Spaceborne Plasma Instruments

• Published in: Journal of materials engineering and performance 2022-07, Vol.31 (7), p.5689-5696
• Main Authors: Venkataraman, V., Thampi, R. Satheesh, Abhishek, J. K., Aneesh, A. N., Pillai, Anju M., Dey, Arjun, Rajendra, A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Corrosion and Coatings; Engineering Design; Materials Science; Quality Control; Reliability; Safety and Risk; Technical Article; Tribology
• ISSN: 1059-9495; 1544-1024
• DOI: 10.1007/s11665-022-06643-5

Copper oxide (CuO) nanostructures have gained significance due to their chemical and physical properties that find applications in sensing, electronics and minimizing solar background count in spaceborne plasma instruments. In this work, a wet-chemical route has been utilized to synthesize nanostructured CuO coating on aluminum alloy substrates. The coating was thoroughly characterized using x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Raman spectroscopy, glow-discharge optical emission spectroscopy (GDOES), UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometer and four probe resistance methods. XRD results showed diffraction peaks corresponding to CuO while SEM micrograph depicted a floral-like nanostructure. Raman spectrum revealed phonon vibrational modes corresponding to CuO. The average solar absorptance of CuO nanostructure was 96% in the wavelength range of 0.25-2.5 μm. A comparison of the UV-induced photoelectron counts between the bare substrate and coated samples showed reduction by a factor of 10 7 due to the presence of CuO nanostructures. The CuO nanostructures also exhibited excellent electrical conductivity and low-degassing properties. Finally, space worthiness studies of the coating in simulated space environments was carried out and proven to be space qualified.