Durable Anti-fog Coatings for Respiratory Protection Systems

Maintaining a high level of visibility in ballistic visors and respiratory protection systems is very difficult under inclement operational conditions. In particular, the transparent lenses will fog up with high humidity in the environment or breathing. There have been significant efforts in the development of hydrophilic coatings that will ‘wet out’ in high humidity to prevent fogging on transparent substrates. Microscopic water droplets adhere well to the surface of a hydrophilic surface contrasting the beading up on a hydrophobic surface. Recent research in the area of superhydrophilic coatings (contact angles approaching zero degrees) has shown great advancements in this area. This wetting out allows the substrate to maintain a high level of transparency. Whereas many technologies and coatings have demonstrated the primary goal of achieving superhydrophilic surfaces, they have lacked durability, or have been difficult or expensive to apply. Luna Innovations proposes to further the development of anti-fog coatings based on our established abrasion resistant coating technology. Luna’s HARSH (Hard Abrasion Resistant Superhydrophilic /Hydrophobic) coatings are very durable, and easily scalable for the production of inexpensive transparent coatings. The development of this coating system will be directly applicable to military goggles, lenses, face shields and other transparent coating applications.