Tiny Nanoparticles - A Big Battlefield Impact?

Abstract

Tiny metallic nanoparticles have the potential to change the landscape of defense technology, from obscuring warfighters from view to providing transparent displays in aircraft and vehicles. A nanoparticle is defined as a particle with one or more dimensions measuring 1 billionth of a meter (1 nanometer [nm]). Typical nanoparticles range from 1 to 1,000 nm. A typical human hair is about 90,000 nm thick. Therefore, an item of 1 nanometer would be invisible to the naked eye. Scientists at the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (MIT-ISN) and the Harvard University Department of Physics are using nanoparticles to develop a novel transparent display technology and improve the design of obscurants, which are used to generate smoke that can hide a warfighter from plain sight.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2014
Accession Number
ADA611332

Entities

People

  • Donald Kennedy

Organizations

  • Defense Acquisition University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Biomedical
  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aircrafts
  • Battlefields
  • Biological Warfare
  • Magnetic Nanoparticles
  • Materials
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Metal Oxide Nanoparticles
  • Metal Oxides
  • Metallic Nanoparticles
  • Metals
  • Microparticles
  • Nanoenergetics
  • Nanoparticles
  • Nanotechnology
  • Optical Properties
  • Particles
  • Surface Plasmon Resonance

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Nanocomposite Materials Science
  • Sensor Fusion and Tracking Systems.

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology