Development of Advanced Materials for Space Deployables
Edwin Teo  1, *@  , Samson Lai Iskandar  2@  , Ranjana Shivakumar  1@  , Siu Hon Tsang  3@  
1 : Nanyang Technological University
2 : Thales Solutions Asia
3 : Nanyang Technological University
* : Corresponding author

The use of smart materials in innovatively designed composites presents a simple yet interesting approach to resolve challenges faced by spaceborne components. One of these advanced composites is the three-dimensional graphene (3D-C) foam enhanced polymer composite. 3D-C has garnered significant attention due to its ability to retain properties inherent to both its 2D and 3D variants, such as high specific surface area, mechanical robustness, flexibility, tuneable electrical and thermal properties, all within a low-density framework (5mg/cm3) and good stability. The porous nature of 3D-C (99.6%) with exceptional chemical stability also makes it an effective filler for diverse polymer matrices. Thus, through the integration of 3D-C with shape memory polymers (SMP) we have created a self-heating deployable composite, with tuneable electrical and thermal conductivity. This composite demonstrates substantially improved thermal conductivity (850% relative to base polymer), a high glass transition temperature (>150°C), with an elevated thermal decomposition temperature (5% weight loss at 500°C) and enhanced shape transformation capabilities. These enhanced capabilities came about due to a new industrially scalable fabrication methodology termed "sculpted-foam-replication method” which allows for our SMPs to have built-in material response cues which gave rise to precise curvature tailoring, from 2D bending in cantilevers to graded 3D Gaussian curvature. When combined with computational kirigami, complex curvilinear shapes with saddles, ridges, and bumps can also be achieved within a single part surpassing the design freedom of existing SMP processing methods. Together with 3D-C's inherent high-frequency electromagnetic functionality, this composite holds significant potential for unlocking new applications centred on geometric manipulation of electromagnetic radiation. A prototype has also been successfully launched and deployed in low earth orbit by the Velox-AM microsatellite, illustrating the practical application of this composite in deployable space structures. Aspects such as the design, advanced manufacturing concepts and kirigami-like deployment will be discussed.


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