Effects of hyperthermal atomic oxygen on a cyanate ester and its carbon fiber-reinforced composite

The durability of cyanate ester (CE) to hyperthermal atomic oxygen (AO) attack in low Earth orbit may be enhanced by the addition of carbon fiber to form a carbon fiber-reinforced cyanate ester composite (CFCE). To investigate the durability of CFCE relative to CE, samples were exposed to a pulsed hyperthermal AO beam in two distinct types of experiments. In one type of experiment, samples were exposed to the beam, with pre- and post-characterization of mass (microbalance), surface topography (scanning electron microscopy (SEM)), and surface chemistry (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)). In the second type of experiment, the beam was directed at a sample surface, and volatile products that scattered from the surface were detected in situ with the use of a rotatable mass spectrometer detector. CFCE exhibited less mass loss than pure CE with a given AO fluence, confirming that the incorporation of carbon fiber adds AO resistance to CE. Erosion yields of CE and CFCE were 2.63 ± 0.16 × 10−24 and 1.46 ± 0...