The Protection Division of the Research & Operations Directorate is responsible for development of next generation personal protective equipment such as novel filter designs.  Such filters must protect against a wide range of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) and toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) in solid, liquid, and vapor forms.  New melt-spinning equipment, along with existing solution blow spinning and electrospinning equipment, are being used to design filters capable of aerosol and vapor filtration.  Specific research opportunities will focus on using various polymers and processing conditions to develop melt spun fibers and design aerosol filters, with particular emphasis on aerosol filtration efficiency, pressure drop, and other important parameters.  Materials can also be developed for protective suits and textiles.

References

[1] Peterson, G.W.; Lu, A.X.; Epps, III, T.H.  “Tuning the Morphology and Activity of Electrospun Polystyrene/UiO-66-NH2 Metal-Organic Framework Composites to Enhance Chemical Warfare Agent Removal.”  ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2017, 9, 37, 32248-32254.

[2] Bose, S.; Sengupta, D.; Wang, X.; Smoljan, C.; Mahle, J.J.; Tokarz, J.A.; Rayder, T.M.; Ma, K.; Kirlikovali, K.; Islamoglu, T.; Peterson, G.W.; Farha, O.K.  “Development of a Multiparticulate Metal-Organic Framework/Textile Fiber Swatch.”  ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2025, 17, 12, 17813–17822.

[3] Cheng, Z.; Fahy, K.M.; Peterson, G.W.; Kirlikovali, K.O.; Farha, O.K.  “Advancing Metal-Organic Framework-Based Composites for Effective Chemical Warfare Agent Detoxification under Real-World Conditions.”  Adv. Mater. 2025, 37, 52, 2413848.

citizenship

level

Additional Benefits

Awardees who reside more than 50 miles from their host laboratory and remain on tenure for at least six months are eligible for paid relocation to within the vicinity of their host laboratory.

A group health insurance program is available to awardees and their qualifying dependents in the United States.