Development of cost-effective and high-performance penetration resistant materials and gloves

个人防护装备(PPE)和手套等可穿戴设备被广泛用于各种职业，包括执法、军事、食品加工、制造、资源开采和医疗保健。2014年，全球防弹衣和个人防护装备市场价值约38亿美元，预计到2024年将增加到53亿美元。在最近的一份市场研究报告中，这些材料的高成本、昂贵的制造工艺以及新材料研发所需的巨额投资被列为增长速度限制因素。防止尖锐物体穿透的可穿戴设备是个人防护装备市场的重要组成部分。开发在保持柔韧性的同时提供高渗透阻力的材料是这一领域的关键挑战。在这项提案中，我们将开发一类材料，它将提供这样的性能组合。我们将利用弹性体中高浓度的硬质纳米填料和弹性堵塞现象来实现这一目标。该提案的目的包括(1)了解弹性堵塞现象及其表征，(2)设计和开发高性能纳米复合材料，(3)材料表征和评价纳米复合材料结构的性能。首先，该项目还将促进对弹性堵塞现象、纳米复合材料的失效和损伤演化以及含颗粒弹性材料在冲击下的科学理解。该项目是与我们的工业合作伙伴RONCO合作的，RONCO对这项技术的开发和商业化非常感兴趣。朗科公司将许可这项技术并将其商业化，并将新产品推向国际个人防护设备市场，这将为加拿大高科技个人防护材料的制造创造就业机会。最后，该项目还将在纳米复合材料配方、抗冲击材料测试和表征以及智能纺织品和手套等领域培养训练有素的合格人员，这些领域的专业知识在加拿大和国外都在增长。

Personal protective equipment (PPE) and wearables such as gloves are used in a wide range of occupations including law enforcement, military, food processing, manufacturing, resource extraction and healthcare. The global body armor and PPE market was worth about US$3.8 billion in 2014 and is expected to increase to US$5.3 billion by 2024. The high cost of these materials, expensive manufacturing processes and significant investments needed in research and development of new materials have been cited as growth rate limiting factors in a recent market research report. Wearables that prevent penetration of sharp objects represent a significant part of the PPE market. Development of materials that provide high penetration resistance while maintaining flexibility, is a key challenge in this field. In this proposal, we will develop a class of materials that will provide such a combination of properties. We will use nanoparticle composites made of high concentration of hard nanofillers in elastomers and elastic-jamming phenomenon to achieve this goal. The aims of the proposal include (1) Understanding the phenomenon of elastic jamming and its characterization, (2) design and development high performance nanocomposites, (3) materials characterization and evaluating the performance of the nanocomposite structures. First and foremost, the project will also advance scientific understanding of elastic jamming phenomenon, failure and damage evolution of nanocomposites, and particle-laden elastomeric materials under impact. This project is in collaboration with our industrial partner RONCO who has taken a keen interest in the development and commercialization of this technology. RONCO will license and commercialize the technology and bring new products to the international PPE market that will create employment opportunities in manufacturing of high technology personal protective materials in Canada. Finally, the project will also create highly trained and qualified personnel in the areas of nanocomposite material formulation, impact materials testing and characterization and in smart textiles and gloves, areas where the need for expertise is growing both in Canada and abroad.