Thermal smart materials and their applications in space thermal control system

Abstract

Effective thermal control technologies are increasingly demanded in various application scenarios like spacecraft systems. Thermal conductivities of materials play a key role in thermal control systems, and one of the basic requirements for the materials is their reversibly tunable thermal properties. In this paper, we briefly review the recent research progress of the thermal smart materials in the respects of fundamental physical mechanisms, thermal switching ratio, and application value. We focus on the following typical thermal smart materials: nanoparticle suspensions, phase change materials, soft materials, layered materials tuned by electrochemistry, and materials tuned by specific external field. After surveying the fundamental mechanisms of thermal smart devices, we present their applications in spacecraft and other fields. Finally, we discuss the difficulties and challenges in studying the thermal smart materials, and also point out an outlook on their future development.