Preparation and Properties of Smart Thermal Control and Radiation Protection Materials for Multi-functional Structure of Small Spacecraft

Considering the unique properties of small spacecraft, such as light weight, low power-consumption and high heat flux density, a new kind of lightweight boron carbide (B4C) radiation-protection coating material was proposed. New techniques for preparing LSMO thermal control coating and B4C radiation-protection coating were developed. The sample piece of multi-functional structure was manufactured by using the proposed materials, and a series of performance tests, such as thermal control and radiation-protection behaviors were evaluated. Test results show that: the emissivity of the multi-functional structure varies from 0.42 to 0.86 at 240 K to 353 K and the phase transition temperature is about 260 K. The electron radiation-protection ability of the multi-functional structure is 3.3 times better than that of Al material. The performance index of this multi-functional structure can meet the requirements for space application in on-board electronic equipment.