FEDERICA ZACCARDI

Dottoressa di ricerca

ciclo: XXXIV


supervisore: Susanna Laurenzi
relatore: Susanna Laurenzi

Titolo della tesi: Advanced materials for radiation shielding applications in support of human space exploration

The Thesis focuses on the development, characterization and FFF fabrication of advanced composite and nanocomposite materials. In particular, this research aims at finding a solution to the problem of the multifunctionality and of the fabrication of structures in space to enable future manned Mars missions. In fact, future manned missions beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO) cannot occur without long-term survival strategies that include the development of multifunctional materials having high radiation shielding capabilities and of in-situ resources utilization (ISRU) manufacturing technologies to limit Earth supplies. Polymer materials are rich in carbon, oxygen and hydrogen and therefore have desirable properties for space radiation protection. Among the polymeric materials, polyethylene (PE) is the solid material with the best shielding effectiveness, even though it does not have enough strength and thermal stability to be a structural material. Epoxy resins exhibit good mechanical strength and thermal stability, but they are dielectric polymers and degrade rapidly when irradiated. A solution to the poor multifunctionality of polymers is provided by carbon-based nanocomposite materials. Carbon nanoparticles such as graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) and carbon nanotubes (CNT), could lead to novel materials with potentially enhanced mechanical and functional properties: high electrical conductivity for static charge dissipation, high thermal conductivity, radiation hardness, and mechanical integrity. Interplanetary manned missions, for which cargo resupply is not possible, further require the development of in-situ resources utilization (ISRU) manufacturing technologies. Additive manufacturing (AM) is increasingly viewed as an interesting approach for the in-situ manufacturing of buildings and items, using regolith (RG) as a feedstock material. Among the AM techniques, fused filament fabrication (FFF) has been successfully used to fabricate components in a micro-gravity environment aboard the International Space Station (ISS), during the NASA Zero G Technology Demonstration Mission. FFF is characterized by low costs, design flexibility, high precision and dimensional accuracy and in contrast to other AM approaches, FFF-printed parts can be easily recycled, reducing the risks and logistics issues related to long duration space missions. In this Thesis, numerical and experimental analysis are carried out to investigate the potential use of epoxy and polyethylene composites and nanocomposites in future Mars missions. In particular, the studies performed in this Thesis on the multifunctional properties and on the FFF fabrication of these novel materials take us one step closer to the use and 3D printing of functional devices and structures in space.

Produzione scientifica

11573/1674425 - 2023 - Hybrid carbon nanocomposites made of aerospace-grade epoxy showing synergistic effects in electrical properties and high processability
Zaccardi, Federica; Toto, Elisa; Marra, Fabrizio; Santonicola, Mariagabriella; Laurenzi, Susanna - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: POLYMERS (Basel : Molecular Diversity Preservation International) pp. - - issn: 2073-4360 - wos: WOS:000947921600001 (0) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85149712640 (0)

11573/1677381 - 2023 - Impact of proton irradiation on medium density polyethylene/carbon nanocomposites for space shielding applications
Zaccardi, Federica; Toto, Elisa; Rastogi, Shreya; La Saponara, Valeria; Santonicola, Mariagabriella; Laurenzi, Susanna - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: NANOMATERIALS (Basel : MDPI) pp. - - issn: 2079-4991 - wos: WOS:000969859700001 (4) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85152900188 (4)

11573/1578742 - 2022 - 3D printing of radiation shielding polyethylene composites filled with Martian regolith simulant using fused filament fabrication
Zaccardi, Federica; Toto, Elisa; Santonicola, Mariagabriella; Laurenzi, Susanna - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: ACTA ASTRONAUTICA (Elmsford N.Y.: Pergamon Press) pp. 1-13 - issn: 0094-5765 - wos: WOS:000703902500001 (15) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85116383545 (18)

11573/1453224 - 2021 - Role of interface bonding on the elastic properties of epoxy-based nanocomposites with carbon nanotubes using multiscale analysis
Zaccardi, F.; Santonicola, M. G.; Laurenzi, S. - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: COMPOSITE STRUCTURES (-OXFORD, ENGLAND: Elsevier Science Ltd -London : Applied Science, 1983-) pp. 1-10 - issn: 0263-8223 - wos: WOS:000582806200115 (11) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85092375218 (12)

11573/1629704 - 2021 - Shielding evaluation of polyethylene/regolith composites in the Martian radiation environment
Zaccardi, Federica; Laurenzi, Susanna; Santonicola, Mariagabriella - 04b Atto di convegno in volume
congresso: IAF Materials and structures symposium 2021 at the 72nd international astronautical congress, IAC 2021 (Dubai ; UAE)
libro: Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC - (978-171384308-5)

11573/1545981 - 2020 - Fabrication and characterization of layered UHMWPE coatings on aerospace-grade epoxy resin for space radiation shielding
Laurenzi, Susanna; Martucci, Luana Filomena; Zaccardi, Federica; Paris, Claudio; Toto, Elisa; Santonicola, Mariagabriella - 04b Atto di convegno in volume
congresso: 71st International astronautical congress, IAC 2020 (Virtual, online; Italy)
libro: Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC - ()

11573/1155310 - 2020 - Nanocomposite layers for spacecraft protection: from multiscale numerical model to experimental data
Laurenzi, Susanna; Zaccardi, Federica; Martino, Semeraro; Santonicola, Mariagabriella - 04b Atto di convegno in volume
congresso: 18th European Conference on Composite Materials, ECCM 2018 (Athens, Greece)
libro: ECCM 2018 - 18th European Conference on Composite Materials - (978-151089693-2)

11573/1545977 - 2020 - 3D printed polyethylene-based composites filled with Martian regolith simulant using fused filament fabrication
Zaccardi, Federica; Laurenzi, Susanna; Santilli, Alessandro; Toto, Elisa; Santonicola, Mariagabriella - 04b Atto di convegno in volume
congresso: 71st International Astronautical Congress, IAC 2020 (Virtual, online; Italy)
libro: Proceedings of the International astronautical congress, IAC - ()

11573/1252207 - 2019 - Spray coating process of MWCNT/epoxy nanocomposite films for aerospace applications: Effects of process parameters on surface electrical properties
Laurenzi, Susanna; Clausi, Marialaura; Zaccardi, Federica; Curt, Ugo; Santonicola, Mariagabriella - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: ACTA ASTRONAUTICA (Elmsford N.Y.: Pergamon Press) pp. 429-439 - issn: 0094-5765 - wos: WOS:000468721900044 (18) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85061080351 (19)

11573/1302225 - 2019 - Electrical resistance tomography for structural health monitoring of nanocomposite materials for spacesuit and crew surface mobility applications
Shreya, Rastogi; David, Bartolo; Toto, Elisa; Zaccardi, Federica; Santonicola, Mariagabriella; Laurenzi, Susanna; La Saponara, Valeria - 04d Abstract in atti di convegno
congresso: NASA Exploration science forum, NESF 2019 (Mountain View; California, United States)
libro: Book of abstracts - NESF 2019 - ()

11573/1381540 - 2019 - Space-grade polyethylene/carbon nanocomposites fabricated by 3D-printing
Zaccardi, Federica; Lavaggi, Tania; Milza, Fabiana; Santonicola, Mariagabriella; Laurenzi, Susanna - 04b Atto di convegno in volume
congresso: 70th International Astronautical Congress, IAC 2019 (Washington; USA)
libro: Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC - ()

11573/1170191 - 2018 - Quantitative assessment of nanofiller dispersion based on grayscale image analysis: a case study on epoxy/carbon nanocomposites
Zaccardi, Federica; Santonicola, Mariagabriella; Laurenzi, Susanna - 01a Articolo in rivista
rivista: COMPOSITES. PART A: APPLIED SCIENCE AND MANUFACTURING (ELSEVIER SCI LTD, THE BOULEVARD, LANGFORD LANE, KIDLINGTON, OXFORD, ENGLAND, OXON, OX5 1GB 011 44 1865 843000, 011 44 1865 843699, EMAIL: nlinfo-f@elsevier.nl OR usinfo-f@elsevier.com OR forinfo-kyf04035@niftyserve.or.jp, INTERNET: http://www.elsevier.nl/, Fax: 011 44 1865 843010) pp. 302-310 - issn: 1359-835X - wos: WOS:000449904200030 (10) - scopus: 2-s2.0-85054592401 (13)

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