Date Thesis Awarded

2013

Access Type

Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only

Degree Name

Bachelors of Science (BS)

Department

Chemistry

Advisor

Robert A. Orwoll

Committee Members

Richard Kiefer

Catherine Koebel

Christopher J. Abelt

Abstract

In space, there are several types of radiation, including solar radiation and galactic cosmic radiation (GCR), that can be harmful to both living beings and machines. The current radiation shielding available on spacecraft is insufficient to protect astronauts and sensitive equipment for long-duration space flight or extraterrestrial habitation, and terrestrial shielding techniques are too heavy to be practical for spacecraft. The use of polymers, specifically hydrogen-rich, aromatic polyimides, as radiation shielding provides a method of slowing radiation in space and preventing the damaging cascade of radiation that results from its collision with spacecraft. This research focuses on the development of novel aromatic-ether dianhydrides for use in polymerization with similarly structured diamines to produce hydrogen-rich polyimides for use as radiation shielding.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Comments

Thesis is part of Honors ETD pilot project, 2008-2013. Migrated from Dspace in 2016.

On-Campus Access Only

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