Laser Propulsion of Three Dimensional Graphene Structures for Space Applications

Progress in space exploration is crucial for expanding human knowledge and discovering new technologies. Various propulsion systems, including chemical, electrical, and innovative propellant-free systems like photonic propulsion, have evolved. As interest in space exploration grows, developing advanced and efficient propulsion methods is vital for enhancing our space capabilities, with photonic propulsion emerging as a key to surpassing conventional rocket propulsion constraints. Photonic propulsion systems, leveraging the speed of light, offer the potential for higher speeds, thrust, and efficiency compared to electric and chemical propulsion systems, alongside reduced mass requirements and the elimination of propellant needs, making them suitable for long-duration missions. Graphene-like materials have been proposed for light/laser propulsion. Recent interest has focused on interactions between laser beams and graphene-based materials (GBM), known for their outstanding properties suitable for laser propulsion. Graphene aerogels, with their three-dimensional porous structure, low density (1-100 g/cm³⁾ excellent electrical conductivity (up to 10 S/cm), and remarkable mechanical strength with Young’s modulus up to 10 MPa, have emerged as promising materials for this application. Our research delves into making graphene 3D structures using our novel graphene production technique. A manufacturing technique utilizing directional freezing was employed to control the microstructure and pore alignment of the 3D graphene structures. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) characterization method was used to confirm the alignment of pores. In addition to manipulating the microstructure, this process offers the flexibility to regulate the densities of the resulting 3D graphene structures. For the investigation of laser propulsion, we developed two in-house experimental setups. These setups were initially designed using CAD models and later fabricated and positioned within a thermal vacuum chamber (TVAC) to simulate space-like conditions for testing. Graphene and graphene oxide aerogels were synthesized and tested using two distinct laser propulsion setups: a pendulum setup and a horizontal setup. The pendulum setup was used to compare the propulsive performance of graphene and graphene oxide aerogels, with the results indicating superior performance for the graphene aerogels. For more accurate results, the horizontal setup was employed to test directionally frozen aerogels of varying densities under different vacuum levels. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the laser propulsion of graphene aerogels, extending beyond previous research, which primarily focused on the propulsion of reduced graphene oxide aerogels.