THROUGH ACTIVATED CARBON FABRICS

FABRICS CONSISTING OF ACTIVATED CARBON FIBERS ARE BEING DEVELOPED FOR USE IN CHEMICAL PROTECTIVE GARMENTS AS POTENTIAL REPLACEMENT FOR THE CURRENT COATED FOAM. THESE FABRICS NOT ONLY MUST ABSORB TOXIC CHEMICAL VAPORS ADEQUATELY BUT ALSO PROVIDE GOOD AIR MOISTURE PERMEABILITY TO MINIMIZE THE PHYSIOLOGICAL STRESS ON THE NEARER. HOWEVER, LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE MECHANISM OF THE COMBINED PROCESSES OF ORGANIC VAPOR SORTIC AND AIR\MOISTURE PERMEABILITY AS THES MATERIALS PERMEATE THROUGH THE FABRICS. FMI PROPOSES TO CONDUCT A PROGRAM TO MEASURE THE ABSORPTIVE AND PREMEABILITY PROPERTIES OF ACTIVAED CARBON FIBER FABRICS INDEPENDENTLY. CARBON FIBER YARN WILL BE PREPARED WITH VARYING ADSORPTIVE PROPERTIES AND CHARACTERIZED BY SUFACE AREA AND SORPTION DATA WHEN EXPOSED TO MOISTURE AND SIMULATED TOXIC AGENT VAPORS. THEN, FABRICS OF VARIED CONSTRUCTIONS WILL BE WOVEN FROM THESE YARNS BE ANALYZED RELATED TO THE BASIC THEORIES WITH SAME VAPORS. THE DATA WILL BE ANALYZED AND RELATED TO THE BASE THEORIES OF ADSORPTION AND PERMEABILITY A MECHANISM WILL BE FORMULATED THAT ACCOUNTS FOR THE COMBINED, SUMULTANEOUS PROCESSES OF ADSPEPITION AND PERMEATION OF MOISTURE AND ORGANTC VAPORS PERMEATING THROUGH ACTIVATED CARBON FABRIC.