Claims
- 1. A spacecraft comprising a surface defining at least a portion of said spacecraft, wherein said surface comprises a layer of carbon nanotubes effective for electrostatic discharge.
- 2. The spacecraft of claim 1, wherein said nanotubes are selected from the group consisting of single-walled carbon nantubes (SWNTs), double-walled carbon nantubes (DWNTs), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), modified carbon nanotubes, and mixtures and combinations thereof.
- 3. The spacecraft of claim 1, wherein the carbon nanotubes are substantially single-walled nantubes (SWNTs).
- 4. The spacecraft of claim 1, wherein the carbon nanotubes are present in said layer at about 0.001 to about 1% based on weight.
- 5. The spacecraft of claim 1, wherein the carbon nanotubes are substantially oriented.
- 6. The spacecraft of claim 1, wherein the layer has a surface resistance in the range of about 105 to about 1012 ohms/square.
- 7. The spacecraft of claim 1, wherein the layer has a surface resistance in the range of about 107 to about 1010 ohms/square.
- 8. The spacecraft of claim 1, wherein the layer further comprises a polymeric material.
- 9. The spacecraft of claim 1, wherein the layer further comprises a polymeric material, wherein the polymeric material comprises a material selected from the group consisting of thermoplastics, thermosetting polymers, elastomers, conducting polymers and combinations thereof.
- 10. The spacecraft of claim 1, wherein the layer further comprises a polymeric material, wherein the polymeric material comprises a material selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, styrenic, polyurethane, polyimide, polycarbonate, polyesters, fluoropolymers, polyethers, polyacrylates, polysulfides, polyamides, acrylonitriles, cellulose, gelatin, chitin, polypeptides, polysaccharides, polynucleotides and mixtures thereof.
- 11. The spacecraft of claim 1, wherein the layer further comprises a polymeric material, wherein the polymeric material comprises a material selected from the group consisting of CP-1, TOR-LM, CP-2, TOR-NC, and mixtures thereof.
- 12. The spacecraft of claim 1, wherein the layer further comprises a polymeric material wherein the carbon nanotubes are dispersed substantially homogenously throughout the polymeric material.
- 13. The spacecraft of claim 1, wherein the layer further comprises an additive selected from the group consisting of a dispersing agent, a binder, a cross-linking agent, a stabilizer agent, a coloring agent, a UV absorbent agent, a charge adjusting agent, and combinations thereof.
- 14. The spacecraft of claim 1, wherein the layer has a thickness of from about 0.5 nm to about 1,000 microns.
- 15. The spacecraft of claim 1, wherein the layer is formed by a method selected from the group consisting of spray painting, dip coating, spin coating, knife coating, kiss coating, gravure coating, screen printing, ink jet printing, pad printing, and combinations thereof.
- 16. The spacecraft of claim 1, wherein the spacecraft is a gossamer spacecraft.
- 17. The spacecraft of claim 1, wherein the spacecraft comprises components selected from the group consisting of solar sails, antennas, sunshields, rovers, radars, solar concentrators, reflect arrays, and combinations thereof.
- 18. The spacecraft of claim 1, wherein the layer has a solar absorptivity of less than about 0.3.
- 19. The spacecraft of claim 1, wherein the layer has a solar absorptivity of between about 0.01 to about 0.2.
- 20. The spacecraft of claim 1, wherein the layer has optical transparency retention of from about 80% to about 99.9% that of a carbon nanotube-free base material.
- 21. The spacecraft of claim 2, wherein the carbon nanotubes are combined with additives to enhance electrical conduction, wherein said additive is selected from the group consisting of conductive polymers, particulate metals, particulate ceramics, salts, ionic additives, and mixtures thereof.
- 22. The spacecraft of claim 2, wherein the layer has a tensile elongation retention of at least 50% of that of a carbon nanotube-free base polymeric materials.
- 23. The spacecraft of claim 2, wherein the layer has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) that is at least 50% of that of a carbon nanotube-free base polymeric material.
- 24. A spacecraft comprising a surface defining at least a portion of said spacecraft, wherein said surface comprises a layer of carbon nanotubes effective for electrostatic discharge;
wherein said nanotubes are selected from the group consisting of single-walled carbon nantubes (SWNTs), double-walled carbon nantubes (DWNTs), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), modified carbon nanotubes, and combinations and mixtures thereof; wherein the layer has a surface resistance in the range of about 105 to about 1012 ohms/square; wherein the layer has a thickness between about 0.5 nm to about 1000 microns; and wherein the layer has optical transparency retention of about 80% to about 99.9% that of a nanotube-free base material.
- 25. A method for providing an electrostatic discharge to at least a portion of a surface of a spacecraft comprising applying carbon nanotubes to said portion.
- 26. The method of claim 25 wherein the carbon nanotubes are selected from the group consisting of single-walled carbon nantubes (SWNTs), double-walled carbon nantubes (DWNTs), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), modified carbon nanotubes, and combinations and mixtures thereof.
- 27. The method of claim 25 wherein the carbon nanotubes are applied in a layer with a thickness from about 0.5 nm to about 1000 microns.
- 28. The method of claim 27 wherein the layer has an optical transparency retention of about 80% to about 99.9% that of a carbon nanotube-free base material.
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/322,728 entitled “ESD Films” filed Sep. 18, 2001.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60322728 |
Sep 2001 |
US |