Thermal and Material Investigation of BN-SiC Composites for Hall Thruster Discharge Channels

Hall Thrusters are propulsion systems deployed onboard satellites to generate thrust. It invokes plasma physics in its working principle during electric discharge. The discharge channel confines the plasma interactions, while housing a floating ionization region. Therefore, the materials that comprise the channel wall must possess a wide array of properties such as high dielectric strength, thermal conductivity, chemical neutrality and low affinity towards sputtering. Generally preferred discharge channel materials include Boron Nitride, Silicon Carbide and Alumina. This work aims to investigate performance improvements through the development of Boron Nitride and Silicon Carbide composites. The sample preparation is performed by affixing Boron Nitride and Silicon Carbide using a binder to form composite variants. The synthesized composites are characterized using X Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) to identify composite bonding and lattice parameters. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) is used to study the surface morphology, while Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS) and UV visible Spectroscopy is performed to study optical properties. Furthermore, thermal studies are performed to understand its applicability in Hall Thrusters through Multiphysics modelling of a multilayer discharge channel. Therefore, BN-SiC composites were found to possess the physical characteristics to host Hall Thruster plasma.