Absorbent Paint Could Soak Up Chemical Weapons, Protecting Vehicle Occupants From Deadly Gas

U.S. Army M1A1 Abrams tank U.S. Army via Wikimedia Commons

Syria’s regime announced for the first time this week that it has chemical weapons, and stands ready to use them if attacked. A new type of paint could potentially guard against it, protecting tanks and armored vehicles with a special chemical-absorbing topcoat.
Scientists at the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, like a British DARPA, worked with a company called AkzoNobel to develop the paint. It contains super absorbent silica gel, the same stuff that comes in those little bead-packets inside new shoeboxes and bags. The material can absorb chemicals, like maybe nerve gas, before they could reach a vehicle’s interior.

It would be a nice topcoat for a special type of paint that can be easily peeled off. This could make it easier to clean — when the nerve gas is soaked up, and the tank is back in a safe area, soldiers could just peel off the paint and throw it away. The Engineer says the paint is sticky like a Post-It is sticky — adhesive enough to hold it in place, but easy to remove.

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