Lotus Coating
materials and coatings
Lotus Coating (GSC-TOPS-19)
Mitigating Dust Accumulation and Repelling Liquids
Overview
The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has developed a unique formulation of a Lotus leaf-like nano-textured dust mitigation coating, with hydrophobic properties. Originally developed to address a large scale problem of dust accumulation and contamination in dusty space environments such as the moon, Mars, comets, asteroids, and other planetary bodies, the coating can be used for other space applications and aeronautical applications, as well as earth-based ground applications. The Lotus Coating is a lightweight passive coating that also has super-hydrophobic properties and can prevent a variety of particles, liquids, or ice from sticking to the coated surface.
The Technology
This durable, transparent, nano-textured coating can be applied via a wet chemistry process to variety of rigid and flexible surfaces by spin coating, brush application, or spray application, making it applicable for many purposes beyond space flight and aeronautical applications. The coatings unique nano-textured surface and overcoat reduces surface energy and contact surface area, giving the coating anti-contamination and self cleaning properties that minimize dust, liquid, and ice accumulation on its surface, similar to a leaf on the Lotus plant. The coating is low outgassing, stable in vacuum, and can survive harsh spaceflight environments. Depending on requirements, the Lotus Coating can be tailored to fit the specific needs of a project or customer. This customization makes the Lotus system far more adaptive, allowing for a more diverse range of applications.
Benefits
- Can be used for dust, liquid, and ice mitigation
- Able to coat virtually any surface
- Easy to formulate & apply
Applications
- Works in air, as well as vacuum systems
- Ideal for surfaces that can not be easily cleaned
- Can be used on spacecraft surfaces, like radiators, mirrors, and solar arrays
- Potential in textile, automotive, health, pharmaceutical, electronics, aeronautics
- Potential clean room surfaces, building and construction industry, solar arrays, etc.
Technology Details
materials and coatings
GSC-TOPS-19
GSC-17004-2
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20120014251, https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20150020486
