Investigation of Electrochemical Gas Generation in Ion Electrospray Thrusters
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dspace_Shaik_IEPC_2024_Electrochemistry[45].pdf
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Author(s)
Shaik, Saba Z.
Lozano, Paulo C.
Date Issued
2024
Publisher
International Electric Propulsion Conference
Citation
Shaik, Saba Z. and Lozano, Paulo C. 2024. "Investigation of Electrochemical Gas Generation in Ion Electrospray Thrusters." International Electric Propulsion Conference.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
This work investigates the electrochemical formation of gas-phase species in passively-fed
ion electrospray thrusters biased with porous distal electrodes. Volatile reaction products
of the ionic liquid propellants EMI-BF4, EMI-Im, and EMI-CF3BF3 are identified using
differential electrochemical mass spectrometry. Trace amounts of the same species are
independently detected in tests of the electrospray thrusters, where gas appears to be
generated at the distal electrode site after 6 hour periods of continuous emission at a beam
current of about 200 µA. We find that higher beam currents, smaller electrodes, and singlepolarity emission results in more gas being produced. No solid-phase products or hardware
damage are observed in any of these tests. These findings suggest that electrochemistry
could be an important efficiency loss in ion electrospray thrusters, even when no visible
degradation occurs.
Description
The 38th International Electric Propulsion Conference, P. Baudis Convention Center, Toulouse, France, June 23-28, 2024
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
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