Nanofibers for Broadband Spectral Obscurant Applications

Obscurant materials are used to defeat threats in all areas of the electromagnetic spectrum. New Army requirements have been established for novel, multi-spectral, high performance obscurants to defeat a range of threats with a single material system. On a Phase I program Physical Sciences, Inc. (PSI) coupled inherently conductive polymers (ICP) with graphene like structures to provide enhanced composite conductivity. During a Phase II program, PSI will build upon its work with ICP composites, low toxicity biopolymers and nanofiber processing to produce several nanorod obscurants with high extinction in the visible and infrared wavelengths. We will compare the performance and dissemination of several versions of ICP composite nanofibers with obscurant nanofibers composed of carbon and copper coated carbon. Our obscurant development will focus on the optimization of surface and bulk ICP processing to maximize extinction. The most promising of these nanofiber obscurants will be scaled-up to the kilogram level and comprehensively characterized. We will work to densely pack and explosively and pneumatically disseminate the obscurant, measuring their Figure of Merit. We will work with Prof. Chuck Bruce at New Mexico State University (NMSU) for obscurant modeling and characterization, with Capco, Inc. for obscurant dissemination and Espin Technologies for nanofiber manufacture.