TDA is developing innovative technologies to protect people from hazardous chemicals and organisms. Some of this work focuses on systems to detect and defend against chemical and biological warfare agents. Other research is developing field-portable sterilizers for medical and dental instruments.
TDA has identified, prepared and characterized catalysts to decontaminate chemical warfare (CW) agents and other highly toxic materials. Our goal is to develop catalysts that are active at ambient temperature for detoxifying hazardous materials by chemical reactions such as oxidation or hydrolysis. These catalysts could be used on surfaces, leading to self-decontaminating coatings. For example, these catalysts could be used with the chemical agent resistant coating (CARC) that is standard on military ground vehicles. Such coatings would avoid or minimize the use of separate decontamination liquids, and thereby improve the logistics of operating in potentially contaminated areas. These catalysts are being tested against live CW agents through collaborations with organizations having the required permits. TDA has also prepared a literature review of reactive coatings.
TDA is managing a systematic test program to evaluate catalysts to decontaminate CW agents. The U.S. Government has funded a variety of catalyst research and development projects, some specifically focusing on ambient temperature detoxification of chemical warfare agents. The catalysts have rarely been tested against actual chemical agents due to the expense of live agent testing, and a variety of simulants has been used, making it difficult to compare and evaluate developmental catalysts. TDA, in collaboration with CUBRC (Buffalo, NY), is working to identify candidate catalysts, solicit participation from the catalyst preparation and development community, and assess the ability of candidate catalysts to detoxify chemical warfare agents in standardized screening tests. These results will identify promising catalysts or classes of catalysts that may be developed into efficient decontaminants.
In a related project, TDA is working to design an automated system capable of testing new decontaminants, sorbents, and catalysts for their effectiveness against live chemical agents. Such a system could lead to significant savings in the development of new reactive chemistries.
TDA is developing an easy to use liquid decontamination solution, which is effective against both chemical and biological threats, compact and highly transportable, has a long shelf life, and operates with minimal environmental impact, producing no hazardous residue.
TDA has developed systems for decontamination of hazardous organisms, including biological warfare (BW) agents. Our research includes work on portable systems to sterilize the surfaces of medical and dental instruments. These systems will make it easier for military or disaster relief personnel to provide medical care in regions with limited access to power or clean water. One system uses chlorine dioxide gas as the sterilant; this system could also be adapted to biodecontamination of sensitive equipment. In a separate project TDA is developing a portable steam sterilizer.
TDA is also developing methods to detect specific materials, including CW agents. Our research focuses on designing and synthesizing conducting polymers that selectively respond to the target compound. These conducting polymers contain chemical receptors, and when they bind with the CW agent, the resistance of the polymer changes. We are developing prototype conducting polymer sensors combined with Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) tag technology to create a portable detection system that can be worn as part of the existing uniform.
Lastly, TDA has prepared a modified butyl rubber containing self-assembled nanoporous polymer composites. These materials retain much of the excellent chemical resistance of butyl rubber but also provide a measure of water vapor permeability, which is lacking in pure butyl rubber materials but is essential to lower the heat stress on users of protective garments.