Presentations by Luna Innovations in 2007

News

Luna presents papers and posters at technical conferences and tradeshows each year. Below are brief explanations of those presentations. Contact us for more information about our emerging technologies and solutions.

Presentations Archives 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008

Novel Low VOC Highly Corrosion Resistant Conformal Coating
High performance coatings for military and commercial radar applications require excellent electrical insulating properties, corrosion protection and weatherability. Current Navy radar coating systems use formulations that contain significant levels of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and hazardous air pollutants (HAP). There is an immediate need for a VOC-free organic coating containing environmentally acceptable inhibitors that meet the dielectric, corrosion, physical, and environmental resistance requirements of aircraft radar. Luna Innovations Incorporated is developing a coating with enhanced corrosion protection for radar components while maintaining necessary dielectric properties. The new coating consists of a water-based polyurethane dispersion (PUD) with very low volatile organic compound (VOC) content. In confined areas, application of the low-VOC coating improves worker safety over incumbent technologies and its rapid dry allows for shorter down time and faster return for equipment utilization. In addition, the low volatiles reduce the environmental impact related to emissions leading to air pollution, and reduced environmental impact of waste disposal.
Paper presentation at Tri Services Corrosion Conference, December 2007

One Centimeter Spatial Resolution Temperature Measurements from 25 to 850 0C Using Rayleigh Scatter in Gold Coated Fiber
There are several methods available for extracting distributed temperature information from optical fiber. Luna presented measurements of high temperature changes on a centimeter scale in optical fiber exposed to temperatures of up to 850 °C. Swept wavelength interferometry (SWI) is used to measure the complex Rayleigh backscatter amplitude as a function of length in optical fiber; shifts in the backscatter spectrum are directly related to shifts in temperature. The technique has been demonstrated to make thermal measurements as precise as 0.6% full scale with spatial resolutions as small as 1 cm up to 850 °C.
Poster presentation at Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), May 2007

Self-Healing Coatings for Corrosion Control
Because of the staggering costs stemming from corrosion of steel infrastructure, there is a tremendous need to develop intelligent coatings that can perform numerous functions above those historically demanded of coatings. Several research efforts, including those of Luna Innovations Incorporated, have demonstrated the ability for coatings and other polymer materials to “self-heal” after a damage event. In many cases, however, the protective properties of the repaired area of the coating are often degraded from those of the qualified paint system itself. Luna is addressing this need to enhance the service life of metal structures for aerospace, marine, and surface applications. Luna is developing a self-healing coating to repair damaged areas and supply corrosion inhibitors to halt corrosion damage.
Paper presented at the First International Conference on Self Healing Materials, April 2007

Decontamination Application using Bacteriophage for Listeria monocytogenes
Listeria monocytogenes is a Gram positive, opportunistic food-borne pathogen responsible for the disease, Listeriosis. Listeriosis is characterized by a variety of symptoms, including, fever, muscle aches, and gastrointestinal distress. The infection can also spread to the nervous system if left untreated and is a severe food-borne illnesses with a high mortality rate. Listeria has been found to contaminate foods during fermentation, processing, storage, or even at packaging. Current methods to decontaminate Listeria from food are insufficient and Luna described a method that uses Listeria monocytogenes bacteriophage as a decontamination agent. Bacteriophage are naturally occurring viruses that selectively target bacteria. The application is intended to make food, packaging, and equipment safer.
Poster presented at International Symposium on Problems of Listeriosis (ISOPOL XVI), March 2007

Miniature Optical Fiber Pressure Microsensors for In Vivo Measurement of Intramuscular Pressure
An innovative fiber optic pressure microsensor has been developed that is based upon on Luna Innovations’ patented extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric (EFPI) technique. The basic physics governing the operation of these sensors makes them relatively tolerant or immune to the effects of high-temperature, high-EMI, and highly corrosive environments. Luna’s pressure microsensor is extremely small, with an outer diameter of only 200 microns and a length of less than 1mm. The pressure microsensor has a high sensitivity that allows for sub-mmHg resolution over a dynamic range of 0-300 mmHg. The combination of these features makes this pressure microsensor ideal for medical applications where small size, high sensitivity and accuracy, EMI immunity, biocompatibility, and survivability (e.g. sterilizable–steam, ethylene oxide) are important.
Paper presented by Luna Innovations and the Biomechanics Laboratory at the Mayo Clinic at Photonics West, January 2007