White anodized thermal control coating on LY12 aluminum alloy

The thermal control coating with low solar absorptance that can be used in the thermal control system of the spacecraft are gained by in situ growth on the LY12 aluminum alloy. In this article, the optical properties, thickness and microstructure of the anodized coating were studied by spectrophotometer, thickness gauge and AFM, respectively. The influence of various operating parameters, viz., temperature, current density, and anodizing time, on the optical properties of the coating was investigated. Results show that the thicknesses of the coating, size and density of micropores have important influence on the optical properties of the coating. Less size and density of micropores, higher reflectance could be gained on the base of enough thickness of the coating. Therefore, white anodized thermal control coating could be prepared by optimizing the process parameters.