Switchable Surface Instabilities for Controlled Permeation and Sensing
Abstract
The goal of this multi-disciplinary collaboration between the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the US Army Natick Soldier Research Development & Engineering Center is to obtain a fundamental understanding of how ‘smart’ materials can be designed that detect and respond to chemical agents through dramatic changes in properties. Our approach is based on buckling instabilities, in particular the formation of wrinkles and creases on the surfaces of elastic materials subjected to compressive stress. Specifically, we seek to employ the reversible formation and breaking of contact between neighboring surface regions to switch both the electrical resistivity and vapor permeability of materials, as new methods to sense and protect against chemical vapors. The work will result in the development of new approaches to fabricate micro-patterned elastic multi-layers, including with sensitivity to simulants and breakdown products of chemical warfare agents. It will provide new insights into how these agents permeate through, and interact with, materials to trigger a response. It will yield a detailed understanding, through coupled experiments and simulations, of how patterned elastic bilayers and multilayers deform under compression. Ultimately, we envision that these fundamental advances will be useful for the design of sensor arrays for chemicals associated with chemical warfare agents, materials that can rapidly shut off permeation of these agents, and integrated systems that can both detect and restrict permeation of specific chemical agents.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- May 26, 2016
- Source ID
- HDTRA11510030
Entities
People
- Ryan C Hayward
Organizations
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency
- University of Massachusetts