Persistently Antimicrobial Polyurethanes for Improved Pressure Garment Bladders

NASA is seeking improvements to current spacesuit pressure garment bladders in several key areas, including increased microbial resistance, imparting self-healing capability, and decreasing the friction between the bladder and surrounding materials. To create these improvements, TRI Austin proposes developing a new polyurethane based coating for the Oxford-weave nylon currently used in legacy space suit pressure garment bladders. This new polyurethane will be developed in collaboration with experts at a local university, who have created FDA approved additives to make polyurethanes, as well as other polymers, persistently antimicrobial and resistant to forming biofilms. These new polyurethanes are expected to decrease or even eliminate the need for biocide use in next-gen space suit applications, without causing significant changes to the current production or processing methods. In addition, imparting self-healing properties and minimizing friction with surrounding materials will be investigated as these polyurethanes are formulated. TRI Austin will work with the current producer of pressure garment bladders to ensure the new polyurethane is a drop-in replacement for the legacy material. The new formulation will be iteratively developed until a polyurethane is created which satisfies or exceeds all of NASArsquo;s desired requirements.