Glove project aims to protect soldiers

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Dec. 20, 2004 – The company that found a way to make tennis balls retain their bounce is now showing success at designing a better protective glove for soldiers who handle hazardous chemicals. Soldiers may not be the only ones to benefit, according to InMat Inc.

In October, InMat sealed a deal with a distributor that could expand InMat’s reach to manufacturers of worker-safety products in the chemical industry, said Harris Goldberg, InMat’s president and chief executive. Its technology also could be integrated into other rubber-based products such as hoses.

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“Our primary target is to meet the government’s needs,” Goldberg said. In 2003, InMat received a $728,086 Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award from the Army to use its nanocomposites to make gloves impenetrable to chemical warfare agents while also resistant to flames and petroleum oils.

But InMat also sees an opportunity to serve the chemical industry, which wrestles with protecting its workers from harsh chemicals and fire hazards. “There are other applications where people need barrier (properties),” he said.

InMat specializes in developing barrier coatings based on nanoclays dispersed in resins. The nanocomposites, either as a layer or mixed into other materials, block gases that penetrate butyl and other rubbers. The Hillsborough, N.J.-based company made a name for itself in 2001 when Wilson Sporting Goods began using its nanocoatings in tennis balls. Tennis balls with InMat’s barrier coatings retain air pressure longer, giving them a longer shelf life and more playing time.

InMat won a Phase I SBIR award from the Army in 2002 to develop a multilayer protective glove that would eliminate several problems found in traditional rubber gear. Butyl, for instance, absorbs petroleum oils and is flammable. Soldiers have to wear a second, nonflammable glove to ensure their safety, a solution that impedes their dexterity.

InMat proposed developing an oil- and flame-resistant nanocomposite coating that provided chemical protection yet didn’t add to the bulk of the glove. In 2003, the Army selected InMat for a Phase II award to continue the project into 2005. Rubber glove maker Best Manufacturing is working with InMat on the project.

Goldberg said InMat is testing combinations of its nanocomposites and various rubber materials. Recent performance trials have shown InMat’s nanocomposites successfully serving as a barrier to chemical warfare agents for 24 hours. It also is outperforming various rubbers in oxygen permeability tests.

“It’s promising,” Goldberg said. “It’s going in the right direction.”

InMat signed an agreement in October with R.T. Vanderbilt Co. making Vanderbilt InMat’s exclusive representative to the rubber industry. Vanderbilt sells hundreds of mineral and chemical products to 12 different industries. It also owns seven subsidiaries that operate chemical manufacturing plants.

Its association with Best Manufacturing gives InMat entry into the glove market. Through Vanderbilt, it hopes to reach the broader rubber industry, Goldberg said.

It’s a potentially huge market: Consumption of natural and synthetic rubber reached about 19-million tons in 2003, according to the London-based International Rubber Study Group

InMat’s ability to make rubber less of a fire hazard could be useful to a number of companies, Goldberg said. Besides safety gear, he listed fuel line hoses and air-conditioning hoses as probable candidates.

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