The world’s armies on the way of introducing forms of “smart” tissues: from virus protection to energy storage

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The revolution in military technology. These words are primarily associated with superweapons, laser tanks, next generation software, artificial intelligence. However, in the near future, the military industry is waiting for a coup in the sphere with a lesser replacement, but no less important - in military uniform. The armies of the world are on the path to introducing a completely new military uniform.





It is assumed that the "smart" form will massively begin to appear in the armies of different countries in the coming 7-10 years. Now, several countries are engaged in the development of Hi-Tech fabric and clothing based on it.

Conventionally, “smart” tissues can be divided into several types:

1. Passive. In this case, the material only collects and transfers information for subsequent actions to the user.

2. Active. In this case, the HiTech fabric not only receives information, but also responds, part of the data is transmitted to a personal computer, which gives a signal to work out the functionality according to a given algorithm.

3. Interactive. “Smart tissue” not only collects information, but also reacts and adapts in accordance with external changes. In particular, body armor and protective plates created using these technologies will be able to restore their strength characteristics during battle. Or the uniform material can solidify, creating, for example, a tire for a broken limb.


There are many demands on “smart tissue”


To the promising form of the new generation several serious requirements are presented at once. For example, it, on the one hand, will be “breathing”, but on the other, it is designed to protect against dangers such as viruses and chemical weapon. What are the reasons for such requirements?

First of all, modern suits of biochemical protection are an extremely inconvenient form for the battlefield. They are bulky, hermetically sealed. The body of a soldier sweats profusely due to the last factor. Related equipment is also not very convenient. Overheating, exhaustion ... The effectiveness of the troops operating in such vestments is reduced due to the fatigue of the soldiers, their distraction for domestic inconvenience.

The solution to this problem is protective equipment that “breathes”: it passes air and, in particular, allows you to divert water vapor. As a result, sweat, the main cooling mechanism of the human body, can evaporate. However, the mechanism should block chemical and biological agents. And this is where the so-called technologies come into play. "Second skin." But this technology is in fact only one of the elements of more revolutionary changes in modern form. We are talking about carbon nanotube based fabric.



Width - less than 5 nanometers


Carbon is one of the most popular and well-known "building materials" in chemistry. In particular, organic chemistry is largely based on the use of this particular element of the periodic table.

However, it is precisely because of their ability to perform the functions of pipelines, writes Ann M. Stark of Livermore National Laboratory. Lawrence (University of Berkeley, USA), researchers are developing tissue with membranes, which include carbon nanotubes.

Nanotubes are five thousand times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. They provide channels through which air and water vapor can pass, but also block biological agents.

- says Stark: her words are quoted by news.com.ua.

In addition, technology companies specializing in aerospace and global security (such as Northrop Grumman) are actively funding research in this area together with academic and government laboratories.

The use of carbon nanotubes is not limited to “second skin” technology; developers see their widespread use in other innovations, including flexible electronics, the production of advanced aerospace components, and even the potential development of space elevators.


Carbon has long attracted scientists


The carbon potential has long attracted scientists; they managed to get their first real nanotubes in 1991. Constructed from bound carbon atoms, using appropriate technologies, tubes can serve as the main material, the pores of which are only several times larger than the diameter of individual atoms.

Even viruses are too bulky to penetrate such tissue. At the same time, air and water vapor pass so freely that the fabric “breathes” better than popular commercial fabrics like Gore-Tex.

At the same time, chemical agents are more compact and can slip even through a nanotube. The solution is to make nanotubes smart by providing them with functional groups of molecules that will act as gatekeepers to block the threat. According to Livermore Quang Team Leader Jen Wu, the fabric “will look like smart second skin that responds to the environment. ”: hence the name mentioned above.

In this way, the tissue will be able to block chemical agents such as mustard gas, GD and VX nerve gases, poisons such as staphylococcal enterotoxin, and biological spores, like anthrax.

- emphasizes Jen Wu.

Similar material was developed by the United Science and Technology Bureau of the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency. The Pentagon announced the possible appearance of a new smart tissue in December 2016: information about this was published by the Forces Network portal.

The use of nanotubes also gives other interesting prospects. In particular, the equipment of a soldier of the future suggests that flexible smart elements will be built into the form, diagnosing the state of the soldier’s health in real time. In addition, scientists are looking for ways to facilitate promising combat systems by integrating their elements into uniforms. In particular, they are interested in the opportunity to get rid of wires and provide both high-speed data transfer and power supply for electronics. Nanocarbon tubes are the best suited for the development of flexible processors. However, not only on them is the interest of researchers focused.

John Ho, associate professor at the Institute of Innovation and Technology in Health at National University of Singapore (NUS) and NUS Engineering, told Futurity about how his team managed to create smart tissue that can be used as a signal conductor for several wearable devices at the same time. The article was published on 29 this July.

Currently, most devices use Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for wireless communications. However, these technologies quickly discharge the electronics, which is unacceptable for soldiers in combat. The U.S. Army estimates that the cost of battery chargers such as ammunition can exceed the cost of ammunition for small arms, since the missions prefer to replace any batteries with completely new ones on missions.

Metamaterials


To create a new Hi-Tech fabric in Singapore, the so-called metamaterials were used. Artificially created and possessing a negative refractive index, they have unique electrical, magnetic, optical and other properties.



Metamaterials are capable of creating so-called “Surface waves” that can provide data transmission with 1000 times less power than modern protocols. In addition, the transmission of such a signal is less vulnerable to hacking - information "travels" in 10 cm from the body - in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi it can "fly" to a distance of several tens of meters.

Created “smart” clothes are very durable. It can be folded and bent with minimal loss in signal strength, and the conductive stripes can even be cut or torn without restricting wireless capabilities. Garments can also be washed, dried and ironed just like regular clothes.

Such an intelligent form can be effectively used to monitor the health and health of a fighter, reduce the sound level in headphones, print messages. A patent has already been registered for it, and a tissue sample has been created.



The most interesting thing is that this technology can be used together with existing uniform samples. A laser is used for cutting and sewing. And the conductive material itself, the strips of which are attached from the inside to the uniform by means of fabric glue, is cheap. It costs around a few dollars per linear meter and can be supplied in rolls for use in industrial production.

The previously mentioned carbon has another known form: graphene. If the nanotubes are in the form of a framework, then graphene is flat. It consists of carbon atoms forming a lattice. For its opening, graduates of Russian universities Andrei Geim and Konstantin Novoselov received the Nobel Prize. Using graphene, scientists from RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, have been able to develop a cost-effective and scalable method for the quick manufacture of textilesinto which energy storage devices are integrated.

The next generation of smart waterproof fabrics will be laser printed and manufactured in minutes. This is the future that the researchers behind the new technologies for developing electronic textiles represent. Already at the experimental stage, in three minutes the method allows you to create a sample of intellectual fabric measuring 10x10 cm. The fabric is waterproof, stretches and is easily integrated with energy storage technologies.

Laser instead of a seamstress


The technology allows using laser printing to apply graphene supercapacitors directly to textiles. They are powerful and durable batteries that can be easily combined with solar or other energy sources. In the future, the method makes it possible to quickly create smart textiles in rolls.

The world’s armies on the way of introducing forms of “smart” tissues: from virus protection to energy storage


Dr. Litti Tekkakara, a researcher at the RMIT School of Science, emphasizes that smart textiles with integrated sensing, wireless technology or health monitoring require powerful and reliable energy solutions.

Modern approaches to intelligent energy storage in the textile industry, such as stitching batteries in clothes or using electronic fibers, can be cumbersome and heavy, as well as performance problems.

- commented on the situation Tekkakara magazine Science Daily at the end of August of this year.

These electronic components can also be subject to short circuits and mechanical damage when they come into contact with sweat or with moisture from the environment. Our graphene-based supercapacitor is not only completely washable, it can accumulate the energy needed to power an intelligent garment, and it can be made in large quantities in minutes.

By solving the tasks associated with storing energy in electronic textiles, we hope to create a new generation of wearable technology and Hi-Tech uniforms.


At the moment, with the help of research, it was proved that this material showed resistance to various temperatures and washing, its properties remain stable.

The concept has been publicly discussed since the beginning of the 2000's


Trials of the "smart" form began a long time ago. The concept for its use was published in 2005, and in April 2012 of the year, the British company Intelligent Textiles from Surrey showed a promising form at an event organized by the Center for Defense Enterprises (CDE). The company has patented a number of techniques for weaving complex conductive fabrics. Electronic fabric can provide uniforms with a single central source of power and transmission, eliminating most bulky cables and wires.

The system allows you to transfer data and electricity even if the fabric is damaged - this is its difference from the technologies that use cables.

We have fabric embedded in a vest, shirt, helmet, backpack and weapon glove. This allowed us to create a network that transfers energy and data to where we need it.

Asha Thompson, director of Intelligent Textiles, said in an interview with BBC News.

The company then received about 240 000 pounds for the further development of technology. The company also developed a fabric keyboard for use with a laptop computer, which was planned to integrate with the uniform.

The global market for smart fabrics is growing


The report Market Research Future, giving a forecast for this sector of the market before 2023, it is noted that by the indicated time the world market of intelligent fabrics for military use will exceed the mark of 1,7 billion US dollars.

According to analysts, the United States works most in this direction, but Asian countries such as India and China are ready to invest considerable funds in this sector.

Russia is developing


Russia is also not ready to stay away. Star TV channel reports on the use of intelligent fabrics in the set of promising equipment of the Russian "soldier of the future" Ratnik-2. In particular, aramid fabric impregnated with a special composition from Kamenskvolokno JSC is used in the mold. About this in his material about the new equipment I told TV channel "Star".



Rostec introduced the chameleon material in the 2018 year, and a revised version in the 2019 year. This fabric is able to imitate the landscape - this material covered the helmet of the “Warrior”. For effective camouflage of a fighter or equipment, a few watts of electricity is enough for the material. Responsible for the development of engineers from the Research Technological Institute "Technomash."

For the Arctic, the Advanced Research Foundation (FPI) has developed a special material that can accumulate heat during physical exertion and then release it back. This fabric is capable of surpassing existing foreign materials in 3-5 times in terms of stored energy. This was announced by the director of the fund Andrei Grigoryev in a comment by TASS 9 on July 2019. The fabric was created using the technology of producing ultra-thin fibers using electrospinning.

In addition, Russian scientists managed to develop smart materials similar to those described at the beginning of the article: they allow air and water vapor to pass through, but retain aerosol particles. The FPI said that work on the fabric is being carried out jointly with the Saratov State University.
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  1. -3
    5 September 2019 19: 38
    Even viruses are too bulky to penetrate such tissue.

    They do not penetrate through cheesecloth on the face. laughing
    Star TV channel reports on the use of intelligent fabrics in the set of promising equipment of the Russian "soldier of the future" Ratnik-2. In particular, aramid fabric impregnated with a special composition from Kamenskvolokno JSC is used in the mold.

    Aramid fabric is certainly cool. I’m sitting on a chair made of fabric like this. In general, everything is wonderful, but you can’t sit on it for a long time laughing
    1. +1
      5 September 2019 20: 50
      Quote: Karabas
      In general, everything is wonderful, but you can’t sit on it for a long time

      So, by design, this aramid fabric is designed to attack angry, impregnated for defense - with baby cream crying
      1. 0
        5 September 2019 22: 05
        So, according to the design, this aramid fabric is intended for angry attack, it is impregnated for defense with baby cream

        Wear such a uniform? If on a naked body, it doesn’t seem enough.
        1. +1
          5 September 2019 22: 25
          It will be very interesting to hear about wounds with scraps of such tissue in the wound canals and subsequent effects. As well as heat resistance (in case of fire) and thermal conductivity.
          1. The comment was deleted.
    2. +1
      6 September 2019 04: 12
      They do not penetrate through cheesecloth on the face.
      Viruses penetrate perfectly through a gauze mask. The mask was conceived more as protection against drops of saliva and sputum. Respirators of the FFP2 and FFP3 classes and some types of gas masks protect against viruses.
    3. 0
      6 September 2019 07: 45
      Lay on top like mine, flat pillow and nisyavo. laughing
  2. +1
    5 September 2019 19: 43
    Soon the "predator" costume will not be so fantastic.
  3. +2
    5 September 2019 19: 47
    The future belongs to exoskeletons
    1. +3
      5 September 2019 19: 57
      If you write about them, this is a topic for a separate (rather big) article. Like helmets
  4. +3
    5 September 2019 21: 23
    Well, how much will such a pleasure cost? laughing they will be issued for signature, so that, God forbid, they didn’t take them away after service for fishing.
    1. +1
      6 September 2019 09: 14
      Quote: Proton
      Well, how much will such a pleasure cost? laughing they will be issued for signature, so that, God forbid, they didn’t take them away after service for fishing.

      On the contrary, they will rather push them into the civilian market as super-technological tourist equipment in order to reduce the cost of production due to the scale. As was the case with the Apollo program and SDI.
      Just imagine, instead of a "shovel" phone with a touch screen (I still can't bring myself to buy this muck) there will be a device powered by a suit and projecting an image directly onto the retina, while a full-fledged keyboard will simply be applied to the sleeve.
    2. -2
      6 September 2019 15: 05
      Quote: Proton
      Well, how much will such a pleasure cost?

      now, or in 10 years? twenty years ago, a computer comparable in performance to a modern smartphone cost tens of millions, and today you have this performance in carmen for 10-30 rubles wink
  5. 0
    5 September 2019 21: 40
    The world’s armies on the way of introducing forms of “smart” tissues: from virus protection to energy storage

    A very promising direction. Serious R&D in this area is required.
  6. +1
    6 September 2019 01: 15
    For some reason, the "fabric" of light-guide nanotubes is not mentioned ... Such a "fabric", according to the developers, should "force" the light flux to bend around an "object" "dressed" in such a fabric ... because. say "invisible suit"!
  7. +1
    6 September 2019 01: 22
    For its opening, graduates of Russian universities Andrei Geim and Konstantin Novoselov received the Nobel Prize.
    - Not certainly in that way. Game and Novoselov did not discover graphene (it has been studied for more than 70 years). They discovered a method for producing graphene on an industrial scale. For which, in fact, they received the Nobel Prize.
  8. The comment was deleted.
  9. +1
    6 September 2019 04: 48
    Link to the TV channel is power.

    It seems that fantasy and Rusnano divided the country fraternally. All these fantastic stories are reminiscent of the medieval mind-sets of the construction of the Universe, with the obligatory crank.
  10. 0
    6 September 2019 07: 25
    Experiments, experiments ... or rather, serious research, scientific work !!! They will give birth, no matter what, who would doubt it.
    Oh, their efforts \ diligence, but for peaceful purposes .... however, something will fall into the citizen in the end!
  11. AAK
    0
    6 September 2019 09: 26
    All this, of course, is very good, but no one talks about the problem of feedback with a smart form ... If there is a collection of information about the "carrier" by the equipment, then this implies the need for the "carrier" to respond to commands generated by the processing results information, and the minimum reaction time and maximum accuracy of execution will be only in the pair "electronic device - electronic device" ... So, let our universal contract soldiers prepare for the implantation of microchips for controlling behavior on the battlefield ... terminators, damn it, however. ..
    1. 0
      6 September 2019 17: 21
      So, let our universal contract soldiers prepare for the implantation of behavior control microchips on the battlefield ... terminators, damn it, however ...

      In the very distant future, now, at most, some kind of wrist terminal or "glass helmet", and most likely both. Only now I thought that the Predator terminal from the movie of the same name looks like a fierce retro already.
  12. -1
    6 September 2019 11: 33
    Interesting article! good
    As if fabrics become conductors and chips ...
  13. 0
    6 September 2019 14: 00
    God forbid that we finally begin the serial production of carbon nanotube fabric that transmits air and water vapor and does not permeate liquid, OM, viruses and bacteria, and we can somehow do without data transfer and electric energy storage functions (there are specialized magnetic coupling and carbotitanate batteries).

    The metamaterial, which provides invisibility in the reflected radiation of the optical, infrared and radar ranges, is intended for the manufacture of camouflage wraps, not a fabric uniform.
    1. 0
      7 September 2019 18: 31
      Quote: Operator
      The metamaterial, which provides invisibility in the reflected radiation of the optical, infrared and radar ranges, is intended for the manufacture of camouflage wraps, not a fabric uniform.

      In in !.
      However, it is also important for a fighter to be invisible in the IR and visible ranges. For IR, the reflected one is not suitable either, to shine with an IR spotlight at night ... it is dangerous to chtoli. Yes, and this is not necessary for thermal imagers, for example, they can be used 24 hours a day, without backlight. To carry a cloak daily somehow somehow not from a hand.
      In general, the fight between the shield and the sword moves to another level. They will look for indirect traces in all ranges, all sorts of micro turbulences and vortices of air, vibrations, aromatic molecules .... there would be a reason, but we will find a person))
      1. 0
        9 November 2019 03: 10
        Quote: haron
        However, it is also important for a fighter to be invisible in the IR and visible ranges. For IR, the reflected one is not suitable either, to shine at night with an IR projector


        Yeah, put a fighter in a heat-insulating suit. Let it be cooked - it is obliged to endure anyway.
        1. 0
          9 November 2019 23: 46
          Quote: Good_Anonymous
          Yeah, put a fighter in a heat-insulating suit. Let it be cooked - it is obliged to endure anyway.

          Well it is! Without asking how, why why, you are my sweetheart, you measure the topic of conversation with your own mind, and immediately, if not under your knowledge, you write down the other as a bitch and a fanatic.
          Something such a word as thermo-storage elements tells you something. These are such things that accumulate thermal energy for 100 units of time, and then can reset it for 1 unit of time. The simplest water-based storage device, the most advanced on the principle of equilibrium chemical reactions with a balance in one or the other direction with temperature fluctuations within +20 - +80 degrees.
          If this is difficult, it may be easier to understand about the possibility of distributing heat over a larger radiating area. These are the same capes, hoodies. But in them, body heat is evenly distributed over the entire surface of a very interesting material (consisting of both polyorganic fibers and fibers from an alloy of metals), thereby minimizing the difference between the ambient temperature and a person wearing this "hoodie".
          There are a lot of things. Thermo underwear does not apply to this topic.
          Good luck. And do not be that pessimist.
          1. 0
            10 November 2019 02: 14
            Quote: haron
            You are my dear, you measure the topic of conversation with your mind


            I measure yours, yours. You talked about invisibility in the infrared range. It can only be provided with insulation.

            Quote: haron
            Something says a word to you like thermo-storage elements


            Does not say anything. I heard about thermal accumulators, but I have no idea how they can be used in a camouflage suit.

            Quote: haron
            it may be easier to understand about the possibility of heat distribution over a large radiating area


            This will not reduce the dissipated energy at all.
            1. 0
              10 November 2019 09: 42
              Quote: Good_Anonymous
              You talked about invisibility in the infrared range. It can only be provided with insulation.

              Here I have to "leave the bazaar", for I confess that "invisibility" is a relative concept. And you can achieve complete invisibility just as you said - to isolate the outer shell from the body.
              There is also a second way. This is to reduce the temperature difference between the "shell" of the fighter and the temperature of the surrounding elements as quickly as possible.
              Quote: Good_Anonymous
              This will not reduce the dissipated energy at all.

              It depends on the materials, their quantity, and the scheme of their structural combination in the structure of the "fabric". When using materials with different heat capacity, thermal conductivity and how these materials fulfill the Wiedemann-Franz law, it is possible to achieve a controlled change in thermal conductivity when changing the parameters of the passing current.
              Simplified.
              The outer layer consists of a material with high controlled thermal conductivity. Its task is to level its temperature with the temperature of the environment, or its basic solid elements - trees, walls, soil ....
              The second, the inner layer, is engaged in thermoregulation of the body.
              In this case, the excess heat is discharged into the thermal accumulator, and from it it can be "merged" by an impulse into the environment (for example, the ground), or spent on other good purposes.
              The system is complex, and so far inert for a moving person. For stationary structures, what was already done on the former Tesla in Czechoslovakia.
              1. 0
                10 November 2019 10: 25
                Quote: haron
                The system is complex, and so far inert for a moving person.

                I forgot about the price. Terribly expensive.
                More or less working systems are based on airgels. First of all, based on airbrush and airbrush. From them, one can make both the structure of shells and thermal accumulators.
                The issue of price is the price of aerographite not lower than 200 dollars. per cube cm.
                The United States Navy has already issued a denyuzhku to create a working mass of underwear for its divers. It will be a passive system.
                And from about 2000, the commercial production of airgel blankets began. They combine an airgel made of silica and polysin to obtain a composite fiber (leveling out the fragility of silicon oxide). The material of the reinforcement changes the mechanical and thermal properties of the product, depending on the expected external conditions. As a third component, a "dimmer" is added to the mixture to enable Rayleigh scattering.
                It seems to have written without strong stylistic and grammatical errors))
                hi
              2. -1
                10 November 2019 11: 33
                Quote: haron
                excess heat is discharged into the thermal accumulator


                I am not a physicist, but here I see a contradiction to the second law of thermodynamics smile

                Although, of course, you can make a thermally insulating shell and a cooling system inside, but it will be a limited time to work without heat release.
                1. 0
                  10 November 2019 19: 37
                  Quote: Good_Anonymous
                  I am not a physicist, but here I see a contradiction to the second law of thermodynamics

                  It’s not imagined, it is. Well, almost. In this case, we are already talking about quantum physics. And there the hell that might seem))
  14. 0
    7 November 2019 18: 33
    This is all in the West, where it is real to implement it. But in Russia? Can it be that even great-grandchildren will wear an ordinary gymnast from the time of Afghanistan? And all the ideas will remain buried projects? The same gap is worse than the Crimean one.
    1. -1
      10 November 2019 02: 15
      Quote: Basarev
      Can it be that even great-grandchildren will wear an ordinary gymnast from the time of Afghanistan?


      Some consider the "Afghan" the best military uniform for the Soviet and Russian times smile
      1. 0
        10 November 2019 08: 05
        Well, I don’t know, the novelty is closer to me at all costs. As we all know, technology is not just power, but total domination. And that means - we need massive development, implementation and production of the most avant-garde designs that are ahead of even the most promising foreign projects - so much so that they become obsolete even before the series. The competitors are still on paper - we have even the most distant garrison fully equipped and an even more advanced model is being developed.

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