HIGH STRENGTH, WATER-FILLED CERAMIC NANOCOMPOSITE MICROCAPSULES WITH LOW PERMEABILITY FOR SELF-SEALING FUEL BLADDERS

During the proposed Navy STTR program, NanoSonic and Virginia Tech will design and synthesize innovative, high strength ceramic nanocomposite microcapsules filled with > 80 volume percent water that are empirically optimized to function as readily dispersed powdered additives with long-term water retention, durability during air craft bladder production, and rupture during ballistic shock. NanoSonic’s self-sealing, powdered microcapsule technology will be designed for facile compounding and homogeneous dispersion during aircraft bladder production and have low-cost commercial scalability. To meet the program objectives, NanoSonic will employ water-in-oil suspension manufacturing procedures integrating polymer derived ceramic HybridSil microcapsules to provide aircraft bladder manufacturers with a drop in technology that provides long-term, self-sealing bladder performance without modifications to existing manufacturing procedures. Virginia Tech will help establish mechanical / ballistic shock thresholds necessary for microcapsule rupturing and immediate bladder repair. In support of a low-risk Phase III transition, the proposed self-sealing HybridSil® microcapsules will be intrinsically designed for near term 55-gallon production quantities within an established manufacturing infrastructure.