Thermoplastic Dielectric Coatings for Flexible Electrodynamic Dust Shields: Structural and Functional Performance
4 affiliations
- 1School of Materials Science and Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta Georgia USA
- 2Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta Georgia USA
- 3School of Chemistry and Biochemistry Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta Georgia USA
- 4George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta Georgia USA
Abstract
Lunar dust severely complicates space exploration by adhering to and contaminating exposed spacecraft surfaces. Electrodynamic dust shielding (EDS) is an active mitigation technology that repels electrostatically charged dust particles using oscillating electric fields; however, most existing designs employ rigid metallic conductors that fracture due to cyclic fatigue when attached to flexible surfaces. Flexible EDS devices incorporating graphene‐based nanoflake electrodes mitigate cracking but lack dielectric encapsulation, leading to electrical breakdown during high‐voltage operation. Here, we introduce a thermoplastic encapsulation strategy using high‐density polyethylene, polysulfone, and polyvinylidene fluoride to enhance dielectric reliability. Conductive networks are spray‐printed onto thermoplastic substrates and melt‐bonded to same‐material coating layers, embedding the nanoparticle network within a thermoplastic laminate. Interfacial bonding is characterized through peel testing and scanning electron microscopy, while short‐term stability is assessed via cyclic electromechanical bending, abrasion resistance, and vacuum dust‐removal performance. Thermoplastic encapsulation suppresses permanent resistance shift measured after cyclic bending to <1% for PVDF devices (compared to ∼6.5% for uncoated controls) and reduces abrasion‐induced resistance increases by up to ∼5x. Encapsulated devices operate stably up to 6.0 kVpp without dielectric breakdown, whereas uncoated devices fail near 2.0 kVpp. These results establish a processing‐structure‐performance pathway toward resilient and adaptable EDS technologies for lunar exploration.
Related
- Molecular Electrodynamic Relaxation in Dielectric and Plasmonic Cavities
- Slanted dielectric metagrating hosting exceptional points in momentum space for high-performance arbitrary-to-specific polarization conversion
- The Electrodynamic Basis of Dichroism-Mediated Polarization Perception
- Inducing Enantioselectivity in Radiative Charge-Transfer Rates through Chiral Quantum Electrodynamic Fluctuations.
- Strain-induced structural transformations in hexagonal monolayer boron nitride. A density functional study
BibTeX
@article{onal2026thermoplastic,
title = {{Thermoplastic Dielectric Coatings for Flexible Electrodynamic Dust Shields: Structural and Functional Performance}},
author = {Ide E. Onal and Emily A. Ryan and Luca Scifoni and Thomas M. Orlando and Álvaro Romero‐Calvo and Julie S. Linsey and Meisha L. Shofner},
journal = {Advanced Materials Interfaces},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1002/admi.70667},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.70667},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Thermoplastic Dielectric Coatings for Flexible Electrodynamic Dust Shields: Structural and Functional Performance
AU - Ide E. Onal
AU - Emily A. Ryan
AU - Luca Scifoni
AU - Thomas M. Orlando
AU - Álvaro Romero‐Calvo
AU - Julie S. Linsey
AU - Meisha L. Shofner
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/26
JO - Advanced Materials Interfaces
DO - 10.1002/admi.70667
UR - https://doi.org/10.1002/admi.70667
AB - Lunar dust severely complicates space exploration by adhering to and contaminating exposed spacecraft surfaces. Electrodynamic dust shielding (EDS) is an active mitigation technology that repels electrostatically charged dust particles using oscillating electric fields; however, most existing designs employ rigid metallic conductors that fracture due to cyclic fatigue when attached to flexible surfaces. Flexible EDS devices incorporating graphene‐based nanoflake electrodes mitigate cracking but lack dielectric encapsulation, leading to electrical breakdown during high‐voltage operation. Here, we introduce a thermoplastic encapsulation strategy using high‐density polyethylene, polysulfone, and polyvinylidene fluoride to enhance dielectric reliability. Conductive networks are spray‐printed onto thermoplastic substrates and melt‐bonded to same‐material coating layers, embedding the nanoparticle network within a thermoplastic laminate. Interfacial bonding is characterized through peel testing and scanning electron microscopy, while short‐term stability is assessed via cyclic electromechanical bending, abrasion resistance, and vacuum dust‐removal performance. Thermoplastic encapsulation suppresses permanent resistance shift measured after cyclic bending to <1% for PVDF devices (compared to ∼6.5% for uncoated controls) and reduces abrasion‐induced resistance increases by up to ∼5x. Encapsulated devices operate stably up to 6.0 kVpp without dielectric breakdown, whereas uncoated devices fail near 2.0 kVpp. These results establish a processing‐structure‐performance pathway toward resilient and adaptable EDS technologies for lunar exploration.
SN - 2196-7350
ER -