Enhanced atomic-oxygen resistance of surface-siliconized polyimide film via an in-situ precursor network at the interface

Abstract

In order to allow polyimide (PI) to resist the erosion of atomic oxygen (AO) in Low Earth Orbit to extend the life of the aircraft, an in-situ precursor network approach was proposed to manufacture the inorganic gradient microstructure across the organic/inorganic transition interface and simplify the process, which create a three-tier microstructure film and lead the dense SiO2 protective layer firmly grasps the PI film. Benefiting from the integrated structure, SiO2-coated PI film shows remarkable surface and interface state after 3000 times mechanical bending, which able to delay the initial AO corrosion caused by the defect of the protective layer, resistance to AO reported as AO erosion yield of 2.39 × 10−26 cm3 O atom−1 under 7 × 1021O atoms cm−2 AO fluence. This work proposes a novel approach for the fabrication of high-performance and AO resistant PI to enable the aircraft to complete more efficient and highly integrated flight missions and shows great potential in the general preparation of organic-inorganic interface.