Rapid Repair of CB Hardened Systems

POLYMERight proposes to develop field repair kits that will prevent the compromise of collective protection systems if their integrity is lost. The adhesive chemistry utilized can quickly, easily and dependably bond the like and unlike surfaces together,including Kevlar, polyfluorinated materials, polyolefins, PVC and other materials associated with collective protection systems. It will be tested on various combinations of CB hardened surfaces, bonded at a reasonable range of environmental conditions.These goals will be reached by creating an adhesive system that will include a primer for cyanoacrylate (CA) adhesives already developed by POLYMERight and an appropriate adhesive. This primer allows strong, practically instant bonding of all testedmaterials, including PTFE (Teflonr) and PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride), without any surface preparation except for simple cleaning.The widely used, activated by air moisture, CA adhesives provide quickest bonding of multiple types of materials. The POLYMERight's primer overcomes their traditional limitations, allowing CA to quickly and consistently bond even difficult or impossibleto glue polyolefins and fluorinated materials. It diminishes dependence of the bond on atmospheric moisture, by 300% improves bonding strength at below-freezing temperatures, increases stability of open-to-air primed surfaces and retention of the bondingstrength in warm water. The project will result in the development of an effective, superior adhesion system for maintaining the integrity of the collective CB protective systems in the Air Force CBD and other branches of the US military. Eventually, itcould also be utilized for the production of kits for maintaining the integrity of the individual CB protecting equipment.The developed cyanoacrylate-based adhesive system will significantly expand the application area of commercial cyanoacrylates, allowing them to bond the materials that are currently considered unsuitable for bonding by these adhesives. The ease ofapplication and universality of this adhesive system, and, especially, its capability to bond polyethylene and fluorinated plastics (Teflonr and polyvinylidene fluoride) - materials that cannot be bonded now by any adhesives without expensive surfacepreparation - will make it especially attractive to many civilian and military organizations that deal with the manufacturing, assembly and maintenance of plastic goods. The interest and potential participation of Pacer Technology (an acknowledged leaderin the production and distribution of cyanoacrylate adhesives both in USA and internationally) will allow quick introduction of the developed adhesive system to wide retail and commercial markets in automotive, aerospace, plastics assembly and otherindustries.