Smart Paint Signals When Equipment is Too Hot to Handle
NEWARK, NJ - Researchers at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have developed a paint for use in coatings and packaging that changes color when exposed to high temperatures, delivering a visual warning to people handling material or equipment with the potential to malfunction, explode or cause burns when overheated.
The technology was commissioned and funded by the U.S. Army Armament Research Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) at Picatinny Arsenal in response to dangerous conditions in the desert during the war in Iraq, for example, where soldiers reported temperatures near munitions that had sometimes exceeded 190 °F, far in excess of the shells’ design limits.