UV-Induced Synthesis of Hybrid HMDSO/SiO₂ Thin Films with Compositional Gradients for High-Performance Atomic Oxygen Resistance

A flexible, dense, defect-free, highly adhesive, and highly dissociation energy-rich protective coating is essential to enhance the atomic oxygen (AO) resistance of polymeric materials in a low Earth orbit (LEO). In this work, a dense, defect-free hybrid HMDSO/SiO2 thin film coating with compositional gradients on the surface of polyimide was synthesized using vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) irradiation. The effects of VUV irradiation on the morphology, optical transmittance, and chemical components of plasma-polymerized HMDSO (pp-HMDSO) thin-film coatings deposited on the polyimide surface were investigated in depth. There were no defects such as cracks and holes in the surface morphology of pp-HMDSO films after VUV irradiation, but the surface roughness increased slightly, and the corresponding optical transmittance decreased slightly. The chemical components of pp-HMDSO films were changed in the depth direction starting from the top of the surface, forming hybrid HMDSO/SiO2 thin films with compositional gradients. The component gradient HMDSO/SiO2 composite coating further enhanced the atomic oxygen resistance of the polyimide due to the surface layer of the UV-modified coating enriched with high dissociation energy SiOx material. Therefore, this work provides a facile UV-induced synthesis method to prepare dense, defect-free, and highly dissociation energy-rich protective gradient coatings, which are promising not only for excellent AO protection in LEO but also for potential application in water-oxygen barrier films.