Design and preparation of resin matrix composite coating with good ablation resistance performance under high-energy laser irradiation

High-energy lasers can cause severe damage to conventional materials in an extremely short time. Highly reflective coatings are effective against damage, but they cannot withstand high laser power densities. In this study, a composite coating with two characteristics, namely, reflection and energy consumption, was designed and prepared. TiO2 and BN powders, as light reflective media, were introduced into a boron-modified phenolic resin (BPF) to prepare an anti-laser composite coating. The results show that the initial reflectivity of the composite coating can reach 78.8% at a wavelength of 1064 nm. After damage-free protection for 0.4 s, ablation occurred in the irradiation region. Owing to the formation of residual char, which is the pyrolysis product of BPF, the coating maintained its protective performance. When the composite coating was irradiated at 1000 W/cm2 for 10 s, the back-surface temperature was 186 °C, which indicates decent anti-laser performance. We also studied the role of BN by setting a control experiment. The high conductivity and energy consumption caused by the evaporation of B2O3, which is the oxidation product of BN, helped in improving the anti-laser performance. The residual char with high porosity and degree of graphitization proved to be effective to isolate laser energy. This study provides a new design for protection of conventional materials against laser damage.