High-Temperature Protective Coatings for Carbon-Based Composites

The development of new hypersonic (generally faster than Mach 5) capabilities is important for the United States. In the near-term, application of hypersonic research and technologies is likely to be on enhanced defense systems, such as hypersonic flight, hypersonic missile leading edges, atmospheric reentry, propulsion system subcomponents, and more. Current state-of-the-art materials, such as carbon/carbon (C/C) or silicon carbide-reinforced C/C (C/C/SiC), are not capable of handling the high-temperature environment encountered in these applications due to oxidative degradation. Therefore, high-temperature coatings are needed to protect these structural carbon-based composite materials in hypersonic conditions. Plasma Processes proposes the coating of C/C and C/C/SiC with an oxygen barrier and a refractory oxide top coating for additional oxidation protection and increased emissivity. These coatings will be tested by thermal cycling and high heat flux testing in-house followed by testing at the LHMEL facility. This SBIR enables shape stable C/C structures for use temperatures ≥2000°C.