Temperature-Modulated Radiative Coatings for Dynamic Thermal Management of Spacecraft
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access URL: https://techport.nasa.gov/api/projects/88484
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issued: 2020-11-12T05:04:52.167859
modified: 2025-11-22T10:09:49.074116

US Migrating
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Temperature-Modulated Radiative Coatings for Dynamic Thermal Management of Spacecraft
type: Dataset
contact point: Organization
  fn: TECHPORT SUPPORT
keyword: north-america
keyword: ckan
keyword: amerigeoss
keyword: amerigeo
keyword: arizona-state-university
keyword: national
keyword: active
keyword: united-states
keyword: geoss
keyword: geo
description: During the course of its mission, a spacecraft is often exposed to significant thermal cycling. Hardware components, such as batteries, transmitters, etc. will only operate within a comparatively smaller range of temperatures. Therefore a thermal management system (TMS) must be developed to maintain the spacecraft's temperature at an operable level throughout the mission. One function of the TMS is to regulate the spacecraft's radiative heat transfer with the environment. Passive radiation coatings are a desirable way to achieve this since they require no electrical input and typically add a negligible amount of mass. This proposal discusses wavelength-selective, temperature-modulated multilayer coatings which can be used to control the radiative heat transfer between the environment and the spacecraft. If the spacecraft's temperature is too high, the radiation coating can help to reduce the temperature through enhanced thermal emission by selectively emitting in the mid-infrared. Conversely, if the spacecraft temperature is too low, a highly reflective radiation coating can prevent further temperature decrease by minimizing thermal loss. The proposed coatings will combine both functionalities to provide temperature-modulated variable emissivity and improved thermal control. The temperature-modulated properties are achieved through the incorporation of a thermochromic transition material, vanadium dioxide. Currently a Fabry-Perot resonance cavity provides the wavelength-selectivity of the design, however other structures such as nanoparticle layers, gratings, and nanopillars, will be investigated. Alternative tunable materials, such as graphene or other transition materials, will also be explored. This multifaceted proposal covers four areas: coating design, sample fabrication and characterization, metrology development, and device level testing. A general methodology to analyze and optimize multilayer radiation coatings that incorporate a thermochromic transition m…
issued: 2020-08-01
modified: 2020-01-29

Temperature-Modulated Radiative Coatings for Dynamic Thermal Management of Spacecraft
type: Distribution
access URL: https://techport.nasa.gov/datasheet/88484
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issued: 2020-11-12T05:04:52.167870
modified: 2025-11-22T10:09:49.074974

Temperature-Modulated Radiative Coatings for Dynamic Thermal Management of Spacecraft
type: Distribution
access URL: https://techport.nasa.gov/api/projects/88484.xml
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description: Techport Project XML Metadata
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issued: 2020-11-12T05:04:52.167865
modified: 2025-11-22T10:09:49.074549

Temperature-Modulated Radiative Coatings for Dynamic Thermal Management of Spacecraft
type: Distribution
access URL: https://techport.nasa.gov/view/88484
media type: text/html
description: Techport Project Page
format: HTML
issued: 2020-11-12T05:04:52.167848
modified: 2025-11-22T10:09:49.073639