Quoc Truong, a physical scientist at the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC), provided technical guidance and direction to NSRDEC's industry partner, Luna Innovations, to successfully develop a durable, omniphobic coating used to produce self-cleaning fabrics.

The technology, which was developed for use in soldier clothing, has now made its way to the commercial market.

The omniphobic-coated fabric is said to significantly lower dirt and dust attraction and repel water, oil and many liquid chemicals. “It's omniphobic. That means it hates everything,” commented Truong.

Technical guidance

Truong's technical guidance and leadership were provided to Luna's scientists and engineers through close communications with Luna principle investigator Bryan Koene.  Truong's oversight continued through various stages of lab-bench testing and evaluation, ensuring that the optimised, omniphobic-coating formulations were compatible for use with various Army fabrics.

“Care was taken to also ensure minimal impact to Army fabrics' original physical properties and performances, such as comfort, while providing added repellency to water, oil and toxic chemicals,” said Truong.

The self-cleaning clothing then underwent field testing to assess field durability, performance and user acceptance. “We tested it, and the soldiers really liked it,” said Truong. “The treated fabric also has an anti-microbial additive. It slows microbe growth that causes odours. Some soldiers had asked to keep their uniforms after the field tests. However, it was essential to collect these field-tested uniforms for a post-field-test evaluation to assess their liquid-shedding performance and durability.”

Applications

UltraTech International has been working with NSRDEC partner Luna Innovations to market the omniphobic coating, and it has made this material available commercially under the name of Ultra-Ever Shield.

So far, UltraTech has 150 potential business leads for the product. The technology is being applied to everything from outdoor wear to diapers. Additional military uses are also already in the works. Right now the coating is for textiles, but NSRDEC is working with a team of academic and industry partners to develop super-omniphobic coatings.

The next generation of self-cleaning technology could be used on leather boots and gloves. Down the road, the self-cleaning technology may be possibly applied to flexible/hard surfaces, such as goggles, visors, shelters, and marine structures, such as ship hulls.

Read the original story