Spacecraft protected by a coating including pyroelectric/ferroelectric particles, and the coating material
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorJames F. Cordaro
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A spacecraft protected by a coating includes a spacecraft such as a communications satellite has an external surface and a coating on the external surface of the spacecraft. The coating is formed of a binder, and a plurality of pyroelectric/ferroelectric pigment particles, preferably ferroelectric particles, bound together by the binder. Each ferroelectric pigment particle includes a ferroelectric pigment material having a ferroelectric/paraelectric transition. The coating may also include active secondary particles and/or inert particles. The coating may operate in a passive mode or an active mode with the application of a bias voltage to the coating.
Claims27
A spacecraft protected by a coating, comprising:
- a spacecraft having an external surface, and
- a coating on the external surface of the spacecraft, the coating including
- a binder, and
- a plurality of pyroelectric pigment particles bound together by the binder, each pyroelectric pigment particle comprising a pyroelectric pigment material.
A spacecraft protected by a coating, comprising:
- a spacecraft having an external surface, and
- a coating on the external surface of the spacecraft, the coating including
- a binder, and
- a plurality of pyroelectric pigment particles bound together by the binder, each pyroelectric pigment particle comprising a pyroelectric pigment material having a dielectric permittivity of from about 200 to about 25,000 and an electronic band gap exceeding about 2.5 electron volts.
A spacecraft protected by a coating, comprising:
- a spacecraft having an external surface, and
- a coating on the external surface of the spacecraft, the coating including
- a binder, and
- a plurality of pigment particles bound together by the binder, each pigment particle comprising a pigment material which stores electronic charge when exposed to an electron flux, and which thereafter releases the stored electronic charge over a period of time.
A coating material, comprising:
- a binder;
- a plurality of pyroelectric pigment particles, each pyroelectric pigment particle comprising a pyroelectric pigment material having a ferroelectric/paraelectric transition;
- and
- a plurality of active secondary particles, the active secondary particles being electrically conductive and non-ferroelectric,
- wherein the plurality of pyroelectric pigment particles and the plurality of active secondary particles are bound together by the binder.
A coating material, comprising:
- a binder;
- and
- a plurality of doped pyroelectric pigment particles, the particles being doped to a sufficient extent that the electrical surface resistivity of the coating material is less than or equal to about 1010 ohms per square at room temperature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.