Smokes Originating From Biological Materials

"Smokes for electromagnetic obscuration are important in military operations. With the advent of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City, increased attention is being focused on the urban environment as a potential target for terroristactivities, including dispersal of biological warfare agents (BWA). There is a critical need for materiel that can perform multiple functions over a broad range of environments. Such capability will reduce both logistical burden and cost.This Proposal addresses the development of a bio-derived multifunctional smoke material that provides effective obscuration in the 3-14 ¿m region of the infrared (IR) spectrum, and whose constituent particles can bind and detect BWA. The proposed materialcan be sprayed onto surfaces to detect biological (or chemical) contamination, serve as a probe for forensic assays, or function as a BWA-specific capture surface for environmental sampling.In Phase I, the smoke material will be synthesized, produced as a free-flowing powder, and used to demonstrate an extinction cross-section alpha >=700 m2/cm3 at 3-14 ¿m. Detection of BWA simulants will be demonstrated using the smoke particles. In Optiontasks, material production will be scaled up to larger quantities, and detection of BWA simulants at medically-relevant levels will be demonstrated. The proposed multifunctional material has multiple military and civilian applications, including: IR obscuration, forensic