Investigadores de Florida Atlantic University han desarrollado un nuevo tipo de material para chalecos de protecci\u00f3n bal\u00edstica, tan liviano como el Kevlar pero hasta un 300% m\u00e1s resistente que los disponibles hoy, empleando pol\u00edmeros especiales y nanotubos de carbono, capaces de absorber la energ\u00eda del impacto y disip\u00e1ndola m\u00e1s r\u00e1pidamente que los sistemas actuales, minimizando as\u00ed el trauma sobre el usuario.<\/p>\n
In Christopher Nolan\u2019s <\/strong>Batman Begins<\/em>, there\u2019s a scene where inventor Lucius Fox, played by Morgan Freeman, explains that Wayne Enterprises has created a prototype body armor for the U.S.<\/span> infantry that\u2019s as light as Kevlar but bullet- and knife-proof. Bruce Wayne asks why it never went into production. \u201cThe bean counters figured a soldier\u2019s life wasn\u2019t worth the 300 grand,\u201d Fox\u00a0replies.<\/p>\n In real life, and with Defense Department money, researchers from Florida Atlantic University, or FAU<\/span>, are using advanced polymers and carbon nanotubes to engineer a new type of body fabric that could prove 300 percent\u00a0as strong as today\u2019s state of the art, but just as\u00a0light.<\/p>\n Hassan Mahfuz<\/a>, the lead investigator on the project at FAU<\/span>, says,\u00a0\u201cThe whole idea is to absorb the energy and be able to dissipate very quickly so it doesn\u2019t concentrate\u201d and pierce the fabric and the person inside of\u00a0it.<\/p>\n How do you do that? As Mahfuz and colleagues from other institutions point out in this paper<\/a>, you need to create an entirely new type of treatment for nylon fabric, a hybrid mixture of a polymer that Mahfuz describes as similar to ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene and carbon nanotubes. The former has been around since the 1950s,<\/a> the latter was only discovered in 1991. They\u2019re hollow cylinders of carbon molecules, a product of nanotechnology, or the manipulation of objects at a billionth of a meter in\u00a0size.<\/p>\n Carbon nanotubes are so strong and light (roughly 100 times stronger than steel but one-sixth of the weight) that researchers have proposed they may play a role in super springs<\/a>, drug delivery<\/a>, and future hypersonic weapons<\/a>. Getting them to interact with ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene will be key to realizing ever higher levels of\u00a0strength.<\/p>\n The Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office has provided about $569,000 in funding for the effort according to a release<\/a> on Wednesday from the\u00a0University.<\/p>\n \u201cMy first attempt is to increase [strength] by 25 percent\u201d above the current state of the art within a year, said Mahfuz, who expressed confidence that he would eventually reach a 300 percent strength increase but couldn\u2019t speculate on the timing, since research is ongoing. \u201cAs we publish, we\u2019ll know,\u201d he\u00a0said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n