Title:	Materials' Technologies for Next Generation Chemical Biological Protective Clothing (2006) Pgs 12
Author:	Quoc Truong
Company:	U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center
Conference:	INTC 2006
Abstract:	Selectively permeable membranes (SPMs) are widely used throughout the chemical industry for carrying out gas separations, in the purification of water by reverse osmosis, and in medical applications such as kidney dialysis. For the past decade, some of these SPMs have been engineered for novel use in lightweight clothing for protection against hazardous chemicals and agents of biological origin. These SPM technologies were demonstrated to function without the use of an activated carbon layer to adsorb toxic vapors, and they have been developed and extensively evaluated to protect individual soldiers and emergency responders while remaining comfortable and flexible textile systems. SPM based fabric systems continue to be field evaluated for use in different operational scenarios. In general, promising SPMs have been laminated in between outer shell and liner fabrics, and fabricated for their protective performance in rain, water immersion, aerosol, and chemical vapor contaminated environments. After successful system-level testing, they were also tested in limited field experiments for subjective comfort and durability. Overall user input from several limited field experiments has indicated overwhelming preference for SPM based fabric systems over current chemical protective clothing systems. At this time, new, complimentary technologies are being developed, and some of these will be discussed in this paper. These include: sulfonated ionomer-based SPMs for improved evaporative cooling; ion implantation process to optimize perm-selectivity and resistance to toxic industrial chemicals (Tic); perforated, self-assembled molecular pore based SPMs’ reactive materials for self-detoxification of chemical warfare (CW) agents; biocide additives for instant kill of biological warfare (BW) agents (i.e., bacteria and viruses); elastomeric SPMs for self-conformable clothing; and novel closure systems for integrated protection. This paper will report on the mechanical, barrier, and moisture vapor transport properties of selected SPMs as well as on new and complimentary technologies.

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