A Novel Cleaning Technology for Spacecraft Habitat

There is currently no space based laundry technology. Traditional laundry uses a large amount of surfactants, which results in a substantial organic contaminant burden on downstream wastewater processors. Using cleaning wipes to clean crew contacted surface also generates solid wastes. In this project, based on its success on high performance superhydrophobic and antimicrobial coatings, nGimat proposes to develop a novel cleaning technology, which can be applied onto a wide range of crew contacted surfaces and fabrics. The proposed effort by nGimat will create functional surfaces via CCVD so that surfactants are no longer needed to clean and much less solid wastes will be generated. In the meanwhile, the technology will also provide a cleaning pad to collect and hold the cleaning water/solution and dust for easy recycling and regeneration of cleaning water in microgravity environment, which will significantly reduce resource and energy usage and improve comfortableness and safety of the space habitats.