Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 12, 2025
Preparation of Mica Supported Lipid Bilayers for High Resolution Optical Microscopy Imaging
Published on: June 7, 2014
Double-Layer Nacre-Inspired Polyimide-Mica Nanocomposite Films with Excellent Mechanical Stability for LEO
Xiao-Feng Pan1, Bao Wu2, Huai-Ling Gao1
1Division of Nanomaterials and Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, Institute of Energy, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Department of Chemistry, Institute of Biomimetic Materials and Chemistry, Anhui Engineering Laboratory of Biomimetic Materials, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
Abstract:
Owing to their outstanding comprehensive performance, polyimide (PI) composite films are widely used on the external surfaces of spacecraft to protect them from the adverse conditions of low Earth orbit (LEO). However, current PI composite films have inadequate mechanical properties and atomic oxygen (AO) resistance. Herein, this work fabricates a new PI-based nanocomposite film with greatly enhanced mechanical properties and AO resistance by integrating mica nanosheets with PI into a unique double-layer nacre-inspired structure with a much higher density of mica nanosheets in the top layer. In addition, the unique microstructure and the intrinsic properties of mica also impart the nanocomposite film with favorable ultraviolet and high-temperature resistance. The comprehensive performance of this material is superior to those of pure PI, single-layer PI-mica, and previously reported PI-based composite films. Thus, the double-layer nanocomposite film displays great potential as an aerospace material for use in LEO.
