Enabling liquid and solid repellency for personal protective ensembles

This project will investigate how to add waterproof, oil-proof, and contaminant-proof properties to soldier protective clothing (ballistic armour vests). Four interns will develop methods for attaching a repellent coating to the fabrics that the Canadian Armed Forces wears. The interns will work with PRE Labs Inc., an armour company in Kelowna, BC. Together, the interns and PRE Labs will figure out to bond the coating to the fabrics, and just how effective the coating is when placed on a fabric. This will involve characterizing the treated fabric for its liquid and contaminant repellency. The interns will additionally measure the breathability of the fabrics. PRE Labs does not perform R&D on coatings or textiles, making this research extremely valuable to them. PRE Labs would be unable to engineer such a coating without the aid of the interns skilled in chemistry, coatings, and textile modification.

Faculty Supervisor:

Kevin Golovin

Student:

Kamran Alasvand Zarasvand

Partner:

PRE Labs

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Nanotechnologies

University:

Program: