Ion beam modification of permselective membranes for chemical biological protective clothing

摘要

One novel approach to reducing the weight of adsorptive carbon-based chemical biological (CB) protective clothing is based on the use of selectively permeable membranes. Membranes are used throughout the worldwide chemical industry for carrying out gas separations, in the purification of water by reverse osmosis, and in medical applications. Thin membranes can be coupled with lightweight fabrics to create material systems which serve as a barrier to hazardous chemicals while allowing moisture vapor transport for evaporative cooling. The Army has been working with suppliers of commercially available membrane materials to develop membranes specifically for CB defense. Some of these candidates provide up to a 50% decrease in weight when compared to carbon containing garments. The goal of the work reported here is to improve the permselcctivity of membanes through the ion beam modification of their surface layers.