Atomic oxygen protective coating with resistance to undercutting at defect sites
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
InventorsBruce A. Banks, Sharon K. Rutledge
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Abstract
Structures composed at least partially of an organic substrate may be protected from oxidation by applying a catalyst onto said substrate for promoting the combination of atomic oxygen to molecular oxygen. The structure may also be protected by applying both a catalyst and an atomic oxygen shielding layer onto the substrate. The structures to be protected include spacecraft surfaces.
Claims16
An oxidation-protected polymer structure comprising an organic substrate having at least two surfaces wherein at least one of said surfaces supports a metal catalyst which promotes combination of atomic oxygen to form molecular oxygen.
An oxidation-protected polymer structure comprising an organic substrate having at least two surfaces wherein at least one of said surfaces supports a metal oxide catalyst selected from the group consisting of silver oxide, hafnium oxide, rhenium oxide, and platinum oxide which promotes combination of atomic oxygen to form molecular oxygen.
An oxidation-protected polymer structure comprising
- an organic substrate having at least two surfaces wherein at least one of said surfaces supports a catalyst layer which promote combination of atomic oxygen to form molecular oxygen, and
- an atomic oxygen shielding layer on said catalyst layer.
An oxidation-protected polymer structure comprising,
- an organic substrate having at least two surfaces, each of which contains a catalyst which promotes combination of atomic oxygen to form molecular oxygen,
- a first atomic oxygen shielding layer on one of said surfaces, and
- a second atomic oxygen shielding layer on the other of said surfaces of said substrate.
A structure protected from oxidation, comprising:
- i) an organic substrate;
- ii) an atomic oxygen shielding layer;
- and
- iii) at least one catalyst supported by a surface of said substrate which promotes combination of atomic oxygen to form molecular oxygen selected from the group consisting of a metal and metal oxide, said catalyst being in the form of an independent layer between said substrate and said atomic oxygen shielding layer.
A structure protected from oxidation comprising:
- i) an organic substrate;
- ii) a first atomic oxygen shielding layer;
- iii) first catalyst on a first surface of said substrate which promotes combination of atomic oxygen to form molecular oxygen selected from the group consisting of a metal and a metal oxide, said first catalyst being in the form of an independent layer between said substrate and said first atomic oxygen shielding layer;
- and
- iv) a second catalyst which promotes combination of atomic oxygen to form molecular oxygen on a second surface of said substrate opposite to said first surface of said substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.