Analyses of Nano Epoxy-Silica Degradation in LEO Space Environment

초록

In this study, the effects of Low Earth Orbit(LEO) environments on the degradation behavior of epoxy nano silica composite materials were investigated. The nanocomposite materials containing silica particles in different weight ratios of 10% and 18% were prepared and degraded in a LEO simulator to compare with the neat epoxy cases. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was performed on the degraded nanocomposites and the activation energies were calculated by Friedman method, Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) method, Kissinger method, and DAEM (Distributed Activation Energy Method) based on the iso-conversional method. As the results, for the neat epoxy sample cases, it was found that the average activation energy was increased as the degradation was progressed. When the nano particles were mixed, however, the energy increased to the 15 environmental test cycles, and decreased afterwards, meaning that the particle mixture contributed adversely to the thermal degradation. Discussions on the results of the different calculation methods were also given.

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