Mitigation of lunar dust regolith remains one of the most pressing issues in space suit development when it comes to surface exploration. Fabrics treated with shear thickening fluid (STF) and super hydrophobic coating have been shown in previous studies to significantly reduce dust adhesion to the Orthofabric surface. The Orthofabric weave construction is such that there is significant void space that can allow dust penetration, even after treatments. Here, we will present the ongoing development of a hybrid textile material that leverages the dust mitigation properties of the STF and superhydrophobic treated fabrics with dust penetration resistant properties of nonwoven. Nonwoven fabrics made of materials capable of surviving the harsh temperatures of the lunar surface are commonly used in filtration settings and could be beneficial to dust mitigation on the Lunar and Martian surface. A hybrid structure where a high strength, temperature stable fiber was needle punched onto the back side of a woven fabric was investigated. The materials were evaluated on their mechanical properties, including puncture and abrasion resistance, and their dust mitigation properties. The final structure had a P84® polyimide fiber needle punched onto the back face of a modified version of Orthofabric, which produced a material that was able to stop dust penetration. Treating this material with STF and adding a superhydrophobic coating reduced the dust adhesion by over half. The material remained flexible enough to easily drape and can be easily sewn for manufacturing a final part. This hybrid nonwoven fabric showed both the ability to both stop penetrating dust while decreasing the dust adhered to the surface and being easily cleanable.
Hobbs et al. (Sun,) studied this question.