Theme 4.1: Multifunctional and Switchable Surfaces for Protection and Survivability

The overall goal of Theme 4.1 is to invent, develop, validate, exploit, and mechanistically explore novel polymeric nanocoatings for Soldier protection, survivability and comfort. Surface functionalization of textiles using layers of nanoscale thickness imparts virtually no weight to the garment but adds the capability to control surface hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity and to mitigate chemical and biological threats. Integration of functional and switchable nanocoatings into biosensors offers a means for detecting toxins in the battlefield in a sensitive and portable manner and thus offering a method of improving Soldier survivability.  The proposed portfolio of complementary vapor phase and solution processing creates a broad range of synthetic possibilities. For instance, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is well suited to the formation of insoluble coatings while deposition of polyelectrolyte films is easiest to achieve by solution methods, such as layer-by-layer (LBL) techniques. Previously, an ISN supported collaboration has demonstrated that vapor phase and solution phase synthetic platforms can be integrated to create multifunctional coatings, such as surfaces which are both hydrophobic and antimicrobial [J Lin J, SK Murthy, BD Olsen, KK Gleason, AM Klibanov, Biotechnology Letts. 25, 1661 (2003)].

Theme 4.1 Researchers

Prof. Jianzhu Chen, Department of Biology
Prof. Karen K. Gleason, Department of Chemical Engineering
Prof. Paula T. Hammond, Department of Chemical Engineering
Prof. Alireza Khademhosseini, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology
Prof. Alexander M. Klibanov, Department of Chemistry
Prof. Robert S. Langer, Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering

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