Nanomaterials-enabled Electrodynamic Dust Shield

NASA needs an advanced technology for dust mitigation relevant to its critical exploration missions. Electrostatic discharge (EDS) coatings will prevent build-up of charge and adhesion of dust on the surfaces of moon, Mars or Near-Earth Objects. InnoSense LLC (ISL) will develop a nanomaterials-enabled EDS (DustRepeltrade;) for use on transparent and flexible surfaces in support of 2020 NASA Technology Taxonomy TX07.02 - Mission Infrastructure, Sustainability, and Supportability (TX07.2). DustRepel will be engineered to provide effective dust shielding capability. Being optically transparent and flexible, it can be deployed on various substrates in different form factors. The design, materials and fabrication processes will render DustRepel versatile and durable. In Phase I, ISL will formulate the electrode ink materials, fabricate DustRepel coupons, evaluate the optical, electrical and physical performances. Phase I feasibility will be validated by demonstrating effective dust shielding effect. In Phase II, we will optimize the design, materials and process, fabricate prototypes and perform rigorous characterizations.