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Led by Dr. Benji Maruyama and comprised of a cadre of energetic,
innovative, high-performing scientists and engineers, the members of
the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Flexible Materials and
Processing Team take comprehension of soft matter to a new level.
“We take a basic understanding of soft, flexible materials and
use this as a foundation to build functional devices,” said
Maruyama. “These include flexible batteries, sensors, hybrid
electronic devices and more. Much of what we’re working on now the
people in the field don’t even know they need yet. We’re building
competencies for the future.”
Perhaps one of the most diverse
research teams in the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, the
members of the flex team have backgrounds ranging from the basic
sciences such as chemistry, physics and electronics to engineering
and applied disciplines across the research spectrum. Many
researchers on the team split their time between flexible materials
and other directorate research teams, enabling greater
cross-functional research applications. The team’s two military
members provide a direct tie to the warfighter, helping ensure work
remains focused on Air Force critical needs.
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August 9, 2017 - A member of the Flexible Materials and Processes
team at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Materials and
Manufacturing Directorate exhibits an additively manufactured
electrical circuit embedded in a flexible material substrate. The
flex team is exploring novel ways to use 3-D printing technology to
create next generation flexible hybrid technologies for the Air
Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Marisa Alia-Novobilski)
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“We do a lot with the warfighter, trying to understand
and anticipate the near and far-term needs. The interface
between humans and machines is a big driver of our
research,” said Maruyama.
Exploiting the benefits of
additive technology, nanomaterials and autonomous research
platforms while leveraging partnerships with industry and
academia, the team masterminds a future-focused material
research portfolio dedicated to ensuring the Air Force has
the most advanced technology for the fight.
Though
the projects within the team are diverse, all fall inside of
three primary research themes. These are the human-machine
interface, development of compliant and functional
materials, and processing and novel device packaging and
integration of materials for sensing, power and
communications.
One focus in the human-machine
interface arena is on the next-generation of wearable
sensors for human performance monitoring. Commercial
products, such as activity trackers and other smart watches,
focus primarily on sensing movement and heartrate and have
limited sensing modalities and durability, limiting their
use in many challenging warfighter operational environments.
The ability to sense physiological changes in a pilot’s
stress or fatigue levels through sweat or electrolytes on
the surface of skin, for example, can potentially eliminate
harmful situations before they have a chance to occur in
flight.
“Integration and packaging challenges are at
the heart of enabling wearable devices for Air Force
environments,” said Maruyama. “In conjunction with our human
performance directorate, universities, other labs and
industry we are working to develop innovative solutions such
as foldable batteries and stretchable interconnects to
create better technologies.”
Another area of work has
the team exploring adaptive materials, or those with the
ability to sense and respond to external stimuli, through
novel design tools. One way they are doing this is through a
high-tech application of origami, the ancient Japanese art
of paper folding.
“Origami is a way of changing
shapes very precisely,” said Dr. Philip Buskohl, a materials
and mechanics researcher in the group. “We're using origami
to amplify the mechanical response of materials that shrink
or expand when exposed to light, heat, humidity or other
stimuli. Additionally, the origami structure can serve as a
means for deployment, which is relevant for antennas, space
assets and temporary shelters.”
While much of the
team’s work focuses on basic research technologies for
future applications, building a cadre of subject matter
experts has enabled them to rapidly respond to some
near-term Air Force needs as well. One of these successes is
the transition of 3-D printed conformal antennas to enable
Link-16 radio communication on the MQ-9 reaper platform in
conjunction with the Air National Guard and other industry
partners.
“The MQ-9 effort is one of the higher
profile projects to come out of our branch,” said Dr.
Abigail Juhl, a materials research engineer who focuses her
work on additive manufacturing of tunable acoustic
materials. “AFRL spent over a decade building competency in
the printing of conformal antenna, so when the problem came
along, within months we were able to create a solution to
meet the needs.”
The team’s research is also showing
commercialization potential in the field of flexible
batteries, and they are in the process of acquiring a patent
for their in-house developed technologies.
“We’ve
developed ways to make flexible batteries safer, and there
is interest in pilot production by industry,” said Maruyama.
“A lot of time the failure in a flexible battery occurs when
the current collector fails. We’ve developed two different
technologies in this area—a foldable nanotube current
collector and a 3-D printable, high temperature separator.
We are exploring possible transition partners.”
Though the flexible materials and processing team is
developing what could be game-changing technologies for the
Air Force, there are a number of challenges they work to
address as they focus efforts on a unique research
portfolio.
For Jeremy Ward, one of the newest members
of the team, one challenge is understanding who within AFRL
and the larger defense research community is working in
similar areas.
“It is important that we engage with
researchers outside of our team, to include industry,
universities and other federal labs,” he said.
Additionally, there is a misunderstanding of what the lab is
capable of delivering and what others think can be
accomplished.
“Sometimes there is an assumption that
a technology is beyond the point where it has truly evolved.
Oftentimes, the communities that can benefit from the
technology that we are developing do not understand this
gap. Part of our job is to help communicate a realistic
timeline for the research and development activities,” said
Ward.
Added to this is the excitement, energy and
motivation of many members of the team to do more.
“Our lab cultures people who are ‘go-getters,’” said Matthew
Dalton. “When do we hit our limit? You have to know what is
strategic to pursue versus going after all that is
possible.”
There are also complications when it comes
to manpower.
“Finding the ‘right’ people with the
expertise in our field is tough. We work a lot with
post-docs and students, and we have proposals and funding to
bring people on our team, but it’s often hard to get people
with the skill sets we need to see the great opportunities
in government research,” said Juhl.
Nevertheless, the
flexible materials and processing team understands their
role in ensuring the Air Force has the technology it needs
as it moves into the future. Though much of their work
focuses on basic research, the ability to evolve research
focus in a nonlinear fashion enables them to address needs
initially not anticipated, using knowledge gained during the
initial exploratory process.
“We have to anticipate
the battles the warfighters will face in the future, and
we’re taking huge risks every time,” said Maruyama. “We have
to know the opportunity space and become the experts.”
“It’s exciting, it’s challenging. It’s the best part of
being on this team,” he concluded.
By Marisa Novobilski, Air Force Research Laboratory
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2017
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