Claims
- 1. A method for preparing a paint, comprising the steps of: preparing a pigment mixture by the steps of
providing an electrically conductive paint pigment, providing a paint vehicle, and mixing and milling the paint pigment and the paint vehicle to form a pigment mixture; and thereafter preparing a liquid paint by the steps of providing an inorganic paint binder, and mixing and dispersing the pigment mixture in the paint binder, without substantial milling of the pigment mixture in contact with the paint binder.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing an electrically conductive paint pigment includes the step of
providing pigment particles having a composition of A[xAl(1−x)Ga]2O4(δD), wherein A is selected from the group consisting of zinc, cadmium, and magnesium, D is a dopant selected from the group consisting of a cationic dopant having an ionic valence greater than +2 and an anionic dopant, the value of x is from 0 to 1, and the value of δ is from 0 to about 0.2.
- 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the paint vehicle is water.
- 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the paint binder comprises potassium silicate.
- 5. The method of claim 1, including additional steps of applying the liquid paint to a surface, and drying the liquid paint to form a solid paint.
- 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the surface is a portion of a spacecraft.
- 7. The method of claim 1, wherein there is substantially no reduction in the particle size of the paint pigment during the step of mixing and dispersing.
- 8. A method for preparing a paint, comprising the steps of: preparing a pigment mixture by the steps of
providing an electrically conductive paint pigment, providing a paint vehicle comprising water, and mixing and milling the paint pigment and the paint vehicle to reduce a particle size of the paint pigment and to form a pigment mixture; and thereafter preparing a liquid paint by the steps of providing an inorganic paint binder, and mixing and dispersing the pigment mixture in the paint binder without substantially reducing the particle size of the paint pigment.
- 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of providing an electrically conductive paint pigment includes the step of
providing pigment particles having a composition of A[xAl(1−x)Ga]2O4(δD), wherein A is selected from the group consisting of zinc, cadmium, and magnesium, D is a dopant selected from the group consisting of a cationic dopant having an ionic valence greater than +2 and an anionic dopant, the value of x is from 0 to 1, and the value of δ is from 0 to about 0.2.
- 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the paint binder comprises potassium silicate.
- 11. The method of claim 8, including additional steps of
applying the liquid paint to a surface, and drying the liquid paint to form a solid paint.
- 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the surface is a portion of a spacecraft.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This invention relates to an electrically conductive paint and, more particularly, to the preparation of such a paint.