Warfighter protection from chemical and biological agents is often achieved using adsorbent, reactive, and barrier membrane systems. However, most existing membrane technology comes with a cost, including comfort, durability, and reduction of material mechanical properties. An ideal system would retain all of these critical properties while maintaining optimal CB protection. The core challenge is to identify and create a tunable and selective membrane molecular transport system, and Nature has invoked many organisms with just such solutions.  One such example is the coconut tree (Cocos nucifera) whose fruit demonstrates different water transport capabilities at different stages of development. The goal of this study is to fundamentally study the design rules of the coconut fruit fiber molecular transport system to understand how membrane properties (stretchability, water transport, selectivity) are affected by nano, meso, and macroscale properties of fibrous membranes (size, elasticity, porosity, fracture toughness, catalyst loading). This work will result in a new body of knowledge informing novel bio-based membrane design for improved CB agent protection with retained mechanical properties.

key words

Chemical/biological defense; Bio-inspired membranes; Membrane structure/function analysis; Fiber characterization; Molecular transport

Citizenship:  Open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents

Level:  Open to Postdoctoral and Senior applicants