World's Most Heat Resistant Material Created, Potential To Be Used For Reusable Spacecraft

Scientists have been into the idea of reusable spacecraft for years as it would make space travel more cost-effective.

The biggest obstacle preventing space agencies from making reusable spacecraft is to find a material that can withstand the extreme heat generated when it exits and enters the Earth’s atmosphere.

Recently, we have a new breakthrough in this respect from the Moscow-based National University of Science and Technology. What they found out is a ceramic material that can withstand an extreme level of heat.

Before this invention, the throne of most-heat-resistant material belongs to a mix of elements hafnium and carbon. It was tested in 2016 by a team of scientists of the Imperial College London using a laser technique to determine the melting point of materials. Hafnium carbide melts at around 4000 degrees Celsius.

Before the invention of Hafnium carbide, scientists at Brown University predicts that a compound of nitrogen, hafnium, and carbon would by world’s most heat-resistant compound using computer modeling. According to their study, that material’s melting point is over 4100 degrees Celsius, around 2/3 of the Sun’s temperature.

With the prediction of experts from Brown University in mind, scientists at the National University of Science and Technology made hafnium carbonitride and test its level of heat-resistant against hafnium carbide.

This material is created by a ball mill with carbon and powdered hafnium, a cylindrical grinder with balls inside to generate high-energy collisions. After that, the composite carbon and hafnium particles are combusted in an atmosphere filled with nitrogen.

In a test to compare the durability of hafnium carbonitride and hafnium carbide. Scientists place samples of the two materials on graphite plates in vacuum environment.

When the two samples are heated with molybdenum electrodes, it was proven that hafnium carbonitride’s melting point is higher than that of hafnium carbide.

Because the melting point is too high, scientists were unable to measure it precisely in labs. So for a more exact number, we will have to wait until scientists conduct another test with the laser technique, just like one did by experts of Brown University.

The new material’s heat-resistant ability and its toughness are promising as we now have a prime candidate to manufacturer reusable spacecraft that can withstand the extreme heat of exiting and entering the Earth atmosphere.

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