Polymeric Composites as Non-Toxic Obscurant Materials

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) proposes to develop biodegradable obscurants operating over the infrared wavelength range using variants of an electroactive polymer. High aspect ratio fibers and flakes of the polymeric material in the size range necessary toprovide full coverage of the infrared spectrum will be produced through electrospinning and electrospraying. The degradation of the polymer will be enhanced through blending with a chemically biodegradable polymer. The Phase I results demonstrate that weare able top form such blends, achieving a thin film extinction cross section of up to 6 m2/g in thin film form using this approach. Calculations show that the conductivity needed to achieve the needed extinction coefficient is within the range of thepolymeric blends we propose. In this proposal we demonstrate the theoretical basis by which we believe we can achieve the desired extinction cross section of 50-500 m2/g in thin film form and 4 m2/g for aerosolized material, illustrate the syntheticmethods that will be used to produce these materials and produce them with the desired forms, and describe the methods that will be used to characterize the material properties in terms of the extinction requirement.