Cosmetic Coating to Protect Unclothed Skin from Thermal (Burn) Injury

Currently, other than protective clothing there is no viable method for directly shielding dermal tissues from thermal insults. Thermal injuries to unprotected eyes and hands result in diminished full force projection for our troops. TRI/Austin is proposing an innovative protective hypoallergenic coating that can be applied topically to skin affording an improved level of burn protection for warfighters in fires and explosive events. It is anticipated the new burn protective skin paint will reduce effective skin exposure of 40 kW/m2 heat flux to less than 10 kW/m2. A systematic development and testing program will result in a non-irritating skin coating with heat absorbing and intumescing properties. Experimental design techniques will be utilized for systematically evaluating formulation and processing components resulting in a low cost, non-irritating, camouflage paint compatible, cosmetic coating to protect against thermal injury. The effectiveness of our technical approach will be demonstrated in the course of laboratory based testing including reducing the effective heat flux, skin irritation testing, compatibility with the extant camouflage paint, thermal analysis, and formulation performance when tested using MIL-DTL-32000 procedures. This systematic experimental design development approach has proved the most effective method for the development of new materials and processes.