Achieving simultaneous low infrared emissivity and improved mechanical properties of Al/epoxy resin composite coating
摘要
Metal/polymer coatings have low infrared emissivity and thus can enhance the infrared stealth capability of defense equipment. However, the metal/polymer coatings are susceptible to mechanical failure when subjected to mechanical action and environmental change. Therefore, Al/epoxy resin composite coating with additives of phthalate (DBP) plasticizer and silane coupling agent KH560 was proposed in the present work to achieve simultaneous low infrared emissivity and improved mechanical properties. The influences of Al powder and functional additives on the infrared emissivity and mechanical properties were thoroughly investigated through manufacturing experiments and properties characterization. It was found that increasing the mass fraction of Al powder can significantly reduce the infrared emissivity but also degrade the mechanical properties. Furthermore, both DBP and KH560 were proved to be able to effectively improve the flexibility and impact strength of the coating while retaining the low emissivity. The polymer coating, fabricated with 40 wt% Al powder and additives of 7 wt% DBP and 7 wt% KH560, exhibited a low approximate emissivity of 0.264 and enhanced mechanical properties, including a flexibility of 2 mm, hardness of 3H, and impact strength of 50 kg·cm.