Novel Radiation Protection System Enabled by Hydrogen Enhanced Nano Fibers, Phase I

The need for radiation protection in humans is critical to the success of the nation's continued presence in space. A new radiation protection system will be developed from the recently defined unique hydrogen uptake properties of polyaniline (PANI) nanotubes. The PANI nanotubes have preliminarily shown up to 6% uptake of hydrogen yielding 11-12% total hydrogen content with low total density. The polymeric nature of polyaniline also makes for good structural stability and form stability for shielding elements fabricated from the polymer. The effort in this proposal will identify the compositional stability of the hydrogen-rich PANI system, will advance hydrogen uptake in PANI to > 15%, will test PANI nanotubes for radiation stability and radiation shielding, and will develop design scenarios for the integration of the PANI radiation protection material as cloth or molded parts for space suits and flexible/inflatable habitat applications.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

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