Durable Stretch Barrier Materials

Chemical, Biological, Radioactive and Nuclear (CBRN) protective ensembles are widely used by the US Military and civilian first responders as the first line of defense for personnel working in contaminated environments. Many innovative products have been developed for the chemical protective clothing market in response to demand from the market place for improved performance. However, the need for technology that improves end-user comfort remains largely unmet. In the Phase I LaunchBay created a new reversibly stretchable barrier fabric that not only exhibited reversible biaxial elongations of up to 17%, but was also shown to possess sufficient chemical barrier properties to meet NFPA 1994 Class I specifications against tested liquid and vapor challenges, both before and after 100 stretching cycles. The technology shows promise towards developing the next generation of stretchable CBRN protective ensembles that provides the wearer greater comfort and maneuverability. The Phase II aims to build on this work to further optimize the stretchable barrier fabric for its overall weight, barrier properties, stretch properties, manufacturability and scale up the final fabric to 50-60” width.