ABSTRACT
Coating and lamination of technical textiles are important techniques used to either enhance or extend the range of their diverse functional properties. The two most important steps involved in the manufacturing of these technical coated textiles are selection of a substrate fabric and application of suitable or coating formulation.
This chapter discusses the development of coated structure for envelope of the LTA systems written from the state-of-the-art materials and the coating techniques developed. Coating formulation and the selection of the additives play a critical role in achieving final properties of the coated textiles for the envelope of the lighter-than-air (LTA) systems, e.g., aerostat, airship, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). This chapter also focuses on recent advances in polymer nanocomposite-based textile coating and the use of certain nanomaterials and their role in polymer coatings. Inclusion of these nanomaterials in coated textile improves the gas barrier and weather resistance properties required in these fabrics for their use in harsh environment (e.g., a high-latitude stratospheric region). Throughout the chapter, several published articles related to this study have been reviewed, and interesting and meaningful results are discussed. More attention is given to the research and development work carried out at Defence Materials & Stores R&D Establishment (DMSRDE, DRDO, Kanpur), Aerial Delivery R&D Establishment (ADRDE, DRDO, Agra), and Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) on related areas.
