Interaction between “Dry” Adhesives and the Surface of Materials Used for Spacecraft Engineering

Abstract

A “dry” adhesive, polyimide, with increased adhesion to materials used in spacecraft engineering is synthesized and studied. Its adhesion properties are estimated using the method of force–distance curves on the basis of scanning-probe-microscope functionality. A technique is developed for the deposition of polyimide onto the cantilever probe of a scanning probe microscope with subsequent measurement of the “adhesion” force using force–distance curves. The proposed “dry” adhesive has a high so-called adhesive strength of 60–300 N/cm² with respect to the structural materials of a spacecraft (AMg6 alloy and screen-vacuum thermal insulation). This enables its practical application in spacecraft for the adhesion of individual parts.