Mike Agosta08.10.05
A team of researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) along with researchers at Clemson University recently signed a contract with the U.S. Army to develop a smart coating that would enable military vehicles, if corroded or scratched, to detect and heal themselves. The vehicles could also change color on the battlefield, creating instant camouflage, rendering tanks and other military vehicles hard to detect.
"We're just getting started, really," said research team leader Daniel J. Watts, Ph.D., executive director of the York Center for Environmental Engineering and Science and Panasonic Chair in Sustainability at NJIT. "Our goal is to extend the period of time between initial painting application and the need to strip and repaint."
According to Dr. Watts, the research team hopes to accomplish this goal by developing a coating system with three different capabilities that currently do not exist in the science of coatings technology. The key, he believes, is nanotechnology.
The coatings will be embedded with, and driven by, nanotechnology known as nano-machines. The microscopic electro-mechanical machines
"We're just getting started, really," said research team leader Daniel J. Watts, Ph.D., executive director of the York Center for Environmental Engineering and Science and Panasonic Chair in Sustainability at NJIT. "Our goal is to extend the period of time between initial painting application and the need to strip and repaint."
According to Dr. Watts, the research team hopes to accomplish this goal by developing a coating system with three different capabilities that currently do not exist in the science of coatings technology. The key, he believes, is nanotechnology.
The coatings will be embedded with, and driven by, nanotechnology known as nano-machines. The microscopic electro-mechanical machines
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