Preparation of SiO2 coating with particle stacking structure for lightweight and high solar thermal reflection on CFRP by gravity deposition

Carbon fiber epoxy resin plastic (CFRP) has been widely used as skin structure, solar panels and antenna of the satellite due to its high strength and low density. However, CFRP will be caused a rise in temperature under the solar irradiation from the space environment by its high solar absorption, which will affect its long-term application performance. It is necessary to prepare thermal control coatings (TCCs) on the CFRP surface. In this paper, we reported a new coating preparation method on CFRP by gravity deposition to fabricate SiO2 stacking structure for lightweight and low solar absorption. By analyzing morphologies of the SiO2 coatings, the best preparation ratio and particle size were confirmed, and the coating with particle staking structure was successfully obtained. The solar absorption of the coating is as low as 0.13 with a surface density of 106 g/m2, and the surface temperature can be reduced by 23.4 °C, providing new prospect in thermal control coating applications on CFRP surface.