Ultralow-density double-layer silica aerogel fabrication for the intact capture of cosmic dust in low-Earth orbits
Ultralow-density double-layer silica aerogel fabrication for the intact capture of cosmic dust in low-Earth orbits
复制标题
超低密度双层二氧化硅气凝胶制造，用于完整捕获近地轨道中的宇宙尘埃
DOI：
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发表时间：
2015
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
A. Yamagishi
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
M. Tabata;H. Kawai;H. Yano;E. Imai;H. Hashimoto;S. Yokobori;A. Yamagishi
本文描述了在“蒲公英”任务中用于完整捕获宇宙尘埃的超低密度疏水二氧化硅气凝胶的制备。在环绕地球的国际空间站上进行的“蒲公英”实验包括在暴露于太空的二氧化硅气凝胶捕获介质上收集地球和行星际尘埃样本，以便后续在地面进行生物和化学分析。该任务成功的关键是高性能捕获介质的研发，主要挑战是在满足作为航天器有效载荷的机械要求的同时，最大限度地提高完整捕获的性能。为此，采用了一种超低密度（0.01克/立方厘米）的软气凝胶，并结合了一种相对坚固的0.03克/立方厘米的气凝胶。还建立了一种大规模生产双层气凝胶瓦的工艺，其表层为0.01克/立方厘米，底层为0.03克/立方厘米的开口盒状，共制造了60块气凝胶瓦。所制备的气凝胶瓦在科学和安全要求方面都已被证明适合作为飞行硬件。
图形摘要
The fabrication of an ultralow-density hydrophobic silica aerogel for the intact capture cosmic dust during the Tanpopo mission is described. The Tanpopo experiment performed on the International Space Station orbiting the Earth includes the collection of terrestrial and interplanetary dust samples on a silica aerogel capture medium exposed to space for later ground-based biological and chemical analyses. The key to the mission’s success is the development of high-performance capture media, and the major challenge is to satisfy the mechanical requirements as a spacecraft payload while maximizing the performance for intact capture. To this end, an ultralow-density (0.01 g cm−3) soft aerogel was employed in combination with a relatively robust 0.03 g cm−3 aerogel. A procedure was also established for the mass production of double-layer aerogel tiles formed with a 0.01 g cm−3 surface layer and a 0.03 g cm−3 open-topped, box-shaped base layer, and 60 aerogel tiles were manufactured. The fabricated aerogel tiles have been demonstrated to be suitable as flight hardware with respect to both scientific and safety requirements.Graphical Abstract