Description: The purpose of this Phase-II project is to continue optimizing the anti-fogging coating developed in Phase-I and begin commercializing the coating for use on NASA spacesuit helmets and other applications, such as consumer eyewear. In Phase-I a permanent and robust anti-fog coating was developed that is applied to the interior of polycarbonate spacesuit helmets. The coating is a mechanically resilient and permanent superhydrophilic layer produced by a two-step process consisting of a plasma processing pre-treatment followed by the deposition of an optically transparent diamond like carbon coating to achieve an anti-fog layer with Water Contact Angle < 10 degrees. The all-dry vacuum process consists of an oxygen plasma etching to engineer the surface of the polycarbonate, creating a well-controlled nanotextured morphology, which is key to the superhydrophilic properties, followed by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of the diamond like carbon coating with high surface energy. The process is carried out at low temperatures compatible with polycarbonate materials and the two steps are performed back-to-back without breaking vacuum between steps. The process is readily scalable and compatible with large scale production volumes. The anti-fogging coating was tested for > 200 hours exposure using a breath simulator with no detrimental effect on the coating performance. The coating was also tested for exposure to cleaning fluids, IPA chemical exposure, adhesion testing per ASTM D3359, and abrasion resistance per MIL-C-48497 with no detrimental effects.

Benefits: The anti-fogging coating can be used on the inside surface of NASA spacesuit helmets, such as the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) or the Exploration EMU (xEMU) pressure bubbles, or any other spacesuit helmet used or being developed for NASA.

The anti-fogging coating has potential for widespread use on items such as consumer eyewear, ski goggles, face shields, etc., and spacesuit helmets from other companies, such as SpaceX.