The experiments revealed that in open air, simulants decayed 10 to 1,000 times faster than in laboratory settings. These data indicate that laboratory tests underestimate the rate of agent decay that occurs outdoors, and on their own, laboratory tests are not sufficient in understanding the decay process outdoors.
To learn how biological threat agents decay upon interacting with variables in the open air, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Chemical and Biological Technologies Department (DTRA CB) developed a new, state-of-the-art test apparatus, the Captive Aerosol Growth and Evolution System (CAGES).
“Due to various challenges posed by outdoor testing, it was generally assumed by scientists that biological threat agents aged and decayed at similar rates indoors as they did outdoors. Our goal was to test this theory,” said Richard Mathieson, Science & Technology Manager, DTRA CB.
Carbon Nanotube Membranes can Enable Rapid Dialysis Processes
Written by AZoNanoJan 8 2021
Scientists from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have found that ultra-rapid dialysis processes could be achieved by carbon nanotube membrane pores, resulting in considerably reduced treatment time for patients undergoing hemodialysis.
Artistic rendering of fast ion permeation inside single-walled carbon nanotubes. Small ions such as potassium, chloride, and sodium permeate through the inner volume of nanometer-wide carbon nanotubes at rates that surpass diffusion in bulk water by an order of magnitude. Image Credit: Francesco Fornasiero/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
In manmade and biological processes, the potential to isolate molecular components in complex solutions is very important. One way to do this is to apply a concentration gradient across a porous membrane. This method fuels molecules or ions that are smaller in comparison to the pore diameters from one side o