Nano-Scale Armor

Abstract

This paper highlights various aspects in the development of nanoscale armors for soldiers. Founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2002, Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN) is dedicated to achieving such objectives through nanotechnology. Paula T. Hammond, an associate professor of chemical engineering at the institute, leads a research team that hopes to discover materials that can both detect and resist chemical weapons or biological attacks. The difficulty in using multiple polymers—and other materials—has long been that polymers tend to separate from each other. Hammond's solution is a novel use of polyelectrolytes. Eventually, molecules in a soldier's uniform will be able to neutralize specific chemicals and literally pop the cells of less-than-friendly biological agents. Hammond plans to also include a layer of nano-size molecules called dendrimers, which can react with mustard gas and deactivate it. Many of the coatings they have come up with have the added benefit of being waterproof-protecting soldiers from the elements as well as from things like E. coli.