Abstract
We have investigated the mechanisms that lead to degradation of hydrocarbon-based materials that are subject to attack by atomic oxygen. Beams of energetic oxygen atoms were directed at liquid (squalane) and solid (Kapton) surfaces, and the reactive and nonreactive products that scattered from these surfaces were detected with a rotatable mass spectrometer detector. Angularly resolved flux and energy distributions of the products revealed that OH and H2O are the initial products of ground-state O(3 P) reactions. Subsequent reactions that become important on a static surface under continuous O-atom bombardment ultimately produce CO and CO2, All observed products exited the surface via thermal and nonthermal mechanisms, and the balance between these mechanisms was dependent on incident O-atom translational energy. Preliminary results suggest that concomitant surface bombardment by energetic atomic or molecular species can enhance the removal rate of CO and CO2, Protection of a polymer surface with a coating dramatically reduced the reactive signal that was detected and thus suggests an approach to materials testing in atomic oxygen environments that involves in situ monitoring of the process.
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Minton, T.K., Seale, J.W., Garton, D.J., Frandsen, A.K. (2001). Dynamics of Atomic-Oxygen-Induced Degradation of Materials. In: Kleiman, J.I., Tennyson, R.C. (eds) Protection of Space Materials from the Space Environment. Space Technology Proceedings, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0714-6_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0714-6_2
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