Neutralization of Aerosolized Bio-Agents by Filled Nanocomposite Materials through Thermal and Chemical Inactivation Mechanisms

Abstract

Neutralization of Aerosolized Bio-agents by Filled Nanocomposite Materials through Thermal and Chemical Inactivation Mechanisms What are the major goals of the project? The main objective of the grant was to develop and characterize new filled nanocomposite materials (FNMs) that are useful as energetic components while releasing highly potent biocidal combustion products. These materials were intended to replace or supplement metal fuel powders in the current energetic formulations. The goal is to make them stable, easy to handle, and compatible with the other formulation components. Beyond the material development and characterization scope, this study aimed at extensively testing the biocidal efficiency of the newly-prepared compositions against stress-resistant aerosolized bacterial endospores serving as surrogates for Bacillus anthracis, specifically Bt(k) and BG spores. The quantitative assessment of the spore inactivation by combusting FNMs requires differentiating the heatinduced stress from the "chemical" stress, which required developing/adopting appropriate experimental methods and facilities for assessing the inactivation of aerosolized spores in wellcharacterized, temperature-uniform microenvironments with variable time of exposure (~100 ms to ~2 s) to gaseous biocidal compounds, such as iodine, released in the process of powder combustion of the newly-developed materials. The project activities can be broken down according to the following two research directions:

Ignition and Combustion Characterization of Ca(IO3)2‐based Pyrotechnic Composites with B, Al, and Ti

“…Methods to neutralize these materials through application of intense heat pulses are in some cases though to be insufficient, and methods that combine both heat and a chemical effect are under serious consideration. One such chemical effect is through the use of iodine as a biocidal remnant produced following the thermal pulse [2][3][4][5][6][7]. Another possible application of these iodized energetic materials is served as an efficient iodine supply system for a Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL) system [8].…”