Breathable second skin materials provide smart protection against chemical and biological agents

Nanowerk  May 6, 2020
A team of researchers in the US (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, MA) demonstrated a smart material that is both breathable and protective by successfully combining a base membrane layer comprising trillions of aligned carbon nanotube pores and a threat-responsive polymer layer grafted onto the membrane surface. The carbon nanotubes could easily transport water molecules through their interiors while also blocking all biological threats, which cannot fit through the tiny pores. To add protection against chemical hazards, a layer of polymer chains is grown on the material surface, which reversibly collapses in contact with the threat, thus temporarily blocking the pores. They confirmed that both simulants and live agents trigger the desired volume change. The material is expected to significantly improve thermal comfort for the user and enable to greatly extend the wear time of protective gears…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE