SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY


MATERIALS DIFFERENCE


THE


The S&T community seeks to tap the vast potential of new substances for game-changing capabilities in battery power, Soldier protection, and much more


by Dr. Peter W. Chung F 78


or more than a century, scientists have known that the basic rules of atomic physics determine the form and function of all materi-


als. This axiom is clearly evident in the materials that provide the underpinning for Soldier superiority. For Army scien- tists and engineers looking to discover new materials and the means to create them, balancing this knowledge with the requirements for material function is a motivating challenge.


Materials are ubiquitous, and the oppor- tunities for leap-ahead innovations abound. Rechargeable batteries, advanced helmets, flexible armor, high-power tran- sistors, multi-frequency sensors, unbreak- able encryption, new approaches to


cloaking, supercomputers on HMMWVs, dismounted real-time, horizonless C4ISR, guided small arms, through-wall imaging, remote disarmament, and intelligent dust are but a few items on a long Army wish list.


The potential capabilities, which read like science fiction, are limited only by the imagination of the researchers and innova- tors. Couple these with emerging sciences in networks, information, and neuroscience, and suddenly the outcomes of second- and third-order effects on technologies become surreal, if not awesome.


The Army stands to benefit.


Soldiers rely on portable devices to remain both connected and aware within


the battlespace. The tens of thousands of batteries that power these devices need recharging, some every day. The power to do so comes from generators that consume fuel. Every ounce of fuel is transported over land and sea at great financial and political cost, often through unfriendly passages, under threat of theft or destruction and protected by Soldiers. New batteries would diminish this logis- tical burden by offering greater power density, higher efficiency, smaller foot- print, and improved reliability.


Present battery materials employ thin internal component interfaces that buffer chemical reactions and pace the release of energy derived from otherwise vigorous atomic events. High-quality interfaces


Army AL&T Magazine


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