The challenges posed by the Moondust environment have been acknowledged as significant hurdles for both prolonged robotic missions and, more critically, manned endeavours aimed at exploring and eventually colonizing our celestial neighbours. Addressing or alleviating this pressing issue has spurred the development of a spectrum of physical and chemical technologies, ranging from active to passive solutions. The passive -techniques are based on the design and realization of lightweight materials exhibiting the lowest possible surface energy corresponding to minimum adhesion forces with micrometric dust particles of lunar regolith. They are advantageous in comparison to electric active devices since they can be efficiently used avoiding the use of any kind of source of energy, or possibly in combination with those. In this work, the design and synthesis, of a high-performance, innovative polymer, are presented. The polymer is endowed simultaneously with excellent thermo-mechanical properties associated with the chemical structure of the bulk polymer matrix and improved surface properties accomplished thanks to the incorporation of specifically selected additives i.e., surface migrating agents. The first phase of this novel approach consisted of the careful selection of the starting monomers and solvents, based on chemical evaluations and the suitable design of advanced oligomers aimed to spontaneously migrate toward the outermost layers of the material and locally change the surface chemistry. The second step involved the synthesis and laboratory characterization of numerous samples obtained through various combinations of the most promising monomers, solvents, and additives. Structural, calorimetric, mechanical, and contact angle measurements, acquired on these specifically formulated polymeric coupons, confirm that the proposed innovative chemical route allows the achievement of these appealing and challenging targets moving a step toward the successful implementation of lunar passive dust mitigation technology for future human and robotic missions.
- Poster