【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Engineering Equipment】1426-2024: Anti-corrosion, sterilization, and thermal control coating technologies for manned sealed chambers

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Happy New Year 2024 **********************【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Processing Equipment】A continuously updated summary post – feel free to join the discussions: https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3576046-1-1.html (Source: Haichuan Chemical Industry Forum) ***************** Metal materials play an important role in the field of space exploration due to their excellent properties, but they are prone to corrosion in extremely complex environments, which poses a threat to the safety of the equipment in use. Traditional organic coatings can only provide passive protection; once these coatings are damaged and cease to function, severe localized corrosion occurs. Moreover, it is difficult to address issues such as antibacterial properties, flame resistance, and dust repulsion. There is an urgent need to develop high-performance, multi-functional coating materials in order to enhance the reliability of the operation of crew cabins. 　　The \"anti-corrosion, antibacterial, and thermal control coating technology suitable for manned spacecraft cabins\", developed jointly by the Team for Surface Modification and Advanced Functional Material Devices from the School of New Materials and Chemical Engineering at Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology and Beijing Satellite Manufacturing Factory Co., Ltd., solved this series of problems and won the First Prize in the Science and Technology Award of the Chinese Society for Corrosion and Protection. 　　According to Zhang You, the project leader and an associate professor at the School of New Materials and Chemical Engineering at Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology, at the current stage, missions such as long-distance, long-duration deep space exploration and manned spaceflight in China are faced with increasingly complex environments, which pose new challenges to the development of next-generation manned spacecraft that require long service life and lightweight construction. There is therefore an urgent need to develop high-performance, multi-functional coating materials to enhance the reliability of the crew compartments. 　　Against this background, the project team focused on technical research in two main areas. First is the multi-functional transparent coating applied in the crew cabin, featuring antibacterial, flame-retardant, environmentally friendly, and dust-repelling properties. Second is an anti-corrosion coating that can be used in coastal areas with high salt fog conditions. 　　“Space stations, manned lunar missions, and other spacecraft’s sealed compartments are all launched from Hainan. During the manufacturing, transportation, and storage phases of these spacecraft, they are exposed to conditions such as high temperatures, high humidity, and high salt fog. This harsh marine corrosive environment increases the risk of corrosion in the aluminum alloy weld areas of the crew compartments, as well as in metal substrates such as magnesium/magnesium-lithium alloys. Furthermore, microorganisms can cause severe corrosion to the equipment and materials on the space station. In addition to providing corrosion protection, interior coatings must also possess functions such as flame retardancy, antimicrobial properties, environmental friendliness, and transparency. ”Zhang You explained. 　　In response to this, the project team developed three highly targeted TAC series functional coatings to optimize the performance of the crew capsule, extend its service life, and ensure the safety of the personnel. Compared to traditional passive protective coatings, these three highly targeted active protective coatings are capable of sensing environmental changes on their own and performing functions such as self-regulation and self-repair, thereby adapting to complex external conditions and enhancing the coating’s protective capabilities and service life. The coatings developed by this project team have been applied to all the interior structural components that require protection, such as modules and doors of space stations, magnesium alloy structure enclosures and brackets, as well as the modules of the next generation of manned spacecraft. 　　Among them, the long-lasting anti-corrosion and antibacterial coating in the TAC-01 manned capsule overcomes the technical challenges associated with achieving low volatility, transparency, and multi-functional properties of anti-corrosion and antibacterial coatings in manned capsules, thus solving the problem of ensuring long-term anti-corrosion and antibacterial protection for such sealed capsules ； The TAC-02 magnesium alloy interior anti-corrosion thermal control coating overcomes the technical challenges associated with the simultaneous control of ultra-thin surface films for anti-corrosion and high emissivity in magnesium alloy interiors. It addresses issues such as the poor toughness and tendency to crack of the coating under extreme temperature conditions in space, as well as its inadequate film-forming ability on magnesium alloy surfaces ； TAC-March dust protection coating represents a breakthrough in advanced passive techniques for effectively removing fine-grained lunar dust in the extreme conditions of the lunar surface. It overcomes challenges such as achieving a balance between high dust removal efficiency and good adaptability to lunar environments, as well as optimizing both the visible light transmission rate and wear resistance of the coating. This coating offers a long-term combination of dust-repelling and dust-suppressing properties, low adhesion, antibacterial effects, along with high wear resistance and corrosion resistance. 　　In July 2023, these technical achievements passed the evaluation of scientific and technological achievements organized by the Chinese Society for Corrosion and Protection. The evaluation panel unanimously agreed that this series of technologies addresses challenges such as long-term broad-spectrum antibacterial protection at the module level, integrated anti-corrosion and thermal control for high efficiency and long durability, as well as dust suppression in extreme environments; as a whole, they reach an internationally advanced level, with particularly leading international standards in terms of anti-corrosion and antibacterial technologies. 　　To date, this series of technologies has resulted in 20 SCI papers and 16 patent applications, of which 8 have been granted, providing important technical support for the lightweight design of manned pressurized modules as well as for their long-lasting and highly reliable operation.