Multifunctional Coating for Crew Cabin Surfaces and Fabrics

NASA's crewed spacecrafts require routine cleaning of particulate, moisture, organic, and salt contaminants on the crew cabin surfaces and fabrics. Self-cleaning surfaces will help in reducing the crew's effort in cleaning the cabin and reduce the amount of wipes used for cleaning. It will also be beneficial if the surfaces can be made antimicrobial to reduce the health risks of the crew members. Surface treatments also should be durable for 3 to 5 years long missions. In the proposed Phase I effort, a novel multifunctional coating will be developed which has both superhydrophobic and antimicrobial properties. Antimicrobial treatment of cabin crew surfaces do not resist the accumulation of contaminants on the surfaces. In the proposed Phase I Materials Modification Inc. (MMI) will develop a multifunctional coating for providing antimicrobial and self-cleaning properties to the spacecraft crew cabin surfaces based on its superhydrophobic technology. The best coating formulation selected from the Phase I effort will be incorporated in a prototype spray cans for NASA applications.