A material experiment for small satellites to characterise the behaviour of carbon nanotubes in space – development and ground validation

Over the last years, Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) drew interdisciplinary attention. Regarding space technologies a variety of potential applications were proposed and investigated. However, no complex data on the behaviour and degradation process of carbon nanotubes under space environment exist. Therefor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Advances in space research 2019-04, Vol.63 (7), p.2312-2321
Main Authors: Abbe, Elisabeth, Renger, Thomas, Sznajder, Maciej, Klemmed, Benjamin, Sachse, Elisa, Hübner, René, Schüler, Tilman, Bärtling, Yves, Muchow, Benjamin, Tajmar, Martin, Schmiel, Tino
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Carbon nanotubes
CubeSat
Electrical behaviour
Material experiment
Solar light
Space environment
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Summary:Over the last years, Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) drew interdisciplinary attention. Regarding space technologies a variety of potential applications were proposed and investigated. However, no complex data on the behaviour and degradation process of carbon nanotubes under space environment exist. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the performance of these new materials in space environment and to revaluate the application potential of CNTs in space technologies. Hence, CiREX (Carbon Nanotubes – Resistance Experiment) was developed as a part of a student project. It is a small and compact experiment, which is designed for CubeSat class space satellites. These are a class of nanosatellites with a standardized size and shape. The CiREX design, electrical measurements and the satellites interfaces will be discussed in detail. CiREX is the first in-situ space material experiment for CNTs. To evaluate the data obtained from CiREX, ground validation tests are mandatory. As part of an extensive test series the behaviour of CNTs under solar ultra violet light (UV) and vacuum ultraviolet light (VUV) was examined. Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) and MWNT/resin composite (ME) were exposed to different light sources. After the exposure, the defect density was investigated with Raman spectroscopy. There is a clear indication that UV and VUV light can increase the defect density of untreated CNTs and influence the electrical behaviour.
ISSN:0273-1177
1879-1948
DOI:10.1016/j.asr.2018.12.020