Coatings for space surfaces, especially for Satellites, fulfil a variety of functions. They must be stable under vacuum and under high and low temperatures. They must also dissipate heat, reflect radiation, not interfere with the satellite and allow electrostatic discharge.

Conducting coatings are required for electrostatic discharge. Conventional materials are either hazardous or the coating is black, which leads to significant heat-up under solar radiation.

 CeraNovis has been active in the field of space coatings for more than 15 years with its thermo-optical white coating NV14. The coating is very stable and remains white even under the harshest conditions up to 480°C in vacuum.  With NV14, we have flight heritage on the #BepiColombo and SolO missions in Europe and have activities in the US space sector. However, like most ceramics, NV14 is not conductive.

Together with the INM (Leibniz Institute for New Materials)  and a leading space company, CeraNovis will now investigate how a newly developed ceramic white coating with conductive properties will perform under harsh space conditions.  The coating platform is based on non-toxic, ambient-curing ingredients. It allows for discharge and conductivity as well as improved heat dissipation compared to a black surface. The applications for such a coating would be enormous as many observation or communication satellites require thermo-optical coatings with these discharging properties.