FORMULATION AND PRODUCTION OF NOVEL BARRIER MATERIALS

Development and production of materials to serve as quality control standards during evaluation of candidate materials for IPE and ColPro Acquisition Programs will be accomplished utilizing advanced nanocomposite technology. In our process, polymeric membranes serve as the building blocks for the standard materials. The polymers are hybridized with specific nanocomposite coatings that optimize permselectivity. An innovative Layer by Layer (LBL) assembly process is incorporated to create layered nanocomposites that can be customized to optimize specificity for various chemical agents, simulants, and TIC/TIMs. Utilizing a bilayer technique, electrostatic forces and donor/acceptor interactions bond the nanocomposites to the polymers creating a membrane of the strength necessary to withstand the rigorous swatch testing conditions. The LBL process delivers a uniform membrane that can be manufactured on a production scale. The novel nanocomposite polymers will be compared to carbon nanotube membranes. While carbon nanotubes have shown success in providing permselectivity, their high cost limits their prospects for commercialization. Further, recent concerns regarding the unknown health risks associated with carbon nanotubes may hinder commercialization and may pose an unnecessary risk to analysts conducting swatch testing. The use of the nanocomposite membranes will eliminate that potential risk while providing quality control standard materials at a reasonable cost.