Additively manufactured electrohydrodynamic ionic liquid pure-ion sources for nanosatellite propulsion

Review of in-space plasma diagnostics for studying the Earth’s ionosphere

“…It might be possible to implement a distributed optical system using a CubeSat constellation that performs like one of these optical plasma sensors if the relative positions of a CubeSat constellation are tightly controlled using high-specific impulse, highly throttleable micropropulsion thrusters, e.g. [92].…”

Shear‐Induced Macropore‐Infused Nanocomposite Emulsion Thermosets

“…Such porous feature arrays could be applied as multiplexed needles for electrospray emission, as a tool for either manufacturing [48] or space propulsion. [49,50] While the study of such www.advmatinterfaces.de devices made by MINET is the topic of ongoing research, we demonstrated the potential by immersing the base of a molded array (after ashing treatment) in ionic liquid and applying 7-10 kV voltage between the MINET structure and a grounded target 20 mm away. When the field was on, we were able to observe a plume of sprayed liquid consistent with a multiplexed spray (Movie S2, Supporting Information).…”

Multiplexed Electrospray Emission of Green Energetic Ionic Liquids from Wedge-Shaped Porous Emitters

“…2−7 Among all tested ILs, the 1-ethyl-3methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([EMIM-BF 4 ]) has emerged as the most frequently utilized propellant owing to its superior electrical conductivity and pure ion emission capabilities. 8 Even if the electrospray thrusters using [EMIM-BF 4 ] could provide a long duration time and large specific impulse for microsatellites, 9−11 the drawback of low thrust level (usually below 100 μN) still limits this kind of thruster to be used in more scenarios. 12 To improve the flexibility of satellite missions, the concept of dual-mode propulsion using energetic fuels was proposed.…”

“…The predominant advantage is the usage of this novel propellant (ILs) that consists entirely of cations and anions at room temperature, thus greatly reducing the ionization cost and enabling the plume self-neutralization without a neutralizer . Until now, a lot of effort has been devoted to developing numerous miniaturized thruster prototypes, testing the diversified ILs, and evaluating corresponding performance, such as thrust and specific impulse. − Among all tested ILs, the 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([EMIM-BF 4 ]) has emerged as the most frequently utilized propellant owing to its superior electrical conductivity and pure ion emission capabilities …”