A Texas A&M professor watches his research go up in flames.

By Kara Bounds Socol

The January death of a West Coast student who was burned when chemicals flashed in a university laboratory was particularly tragic news for Dr. Jaime Grunlan of Texas A&M. The flame-resistant coating he has developed might have saved her life.

"If this girl’s sweater or lab coat was coated with my technology, it’s likely she’d still be here," says Grunlan, assistant professor of mechanical engineering.

His research and development of a flame-resistant polymer coating has garnered the attention of everyone from the cotton industry to mattress manufacturers to the Federal Aviation Administration. As the sole researcher into this technology, he has fielded calls from as far away as Europe. Ultimately, these companies and governmental agencies want to use Grunlan’s technology for commercial purposes.

Grants have helped his research, with the most recent one worth more than $250,000 from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. An older grant was even more crucial to his research, however. His 2007 selection for a multiyear Untenured Faculty Grant by 3M technology company enabled his research to take off. The 3M award was the result of a gift to the Texas A&M Foundation.

"Seed money allows me to pay a student to see if research of a general technology goes anywhere," Grunlan said. "If not, I can look elsewhere. And since its gift money, there are no strings attached." Grunlan’s technology involves covering every microscopic fiber of a fabric with a film composite coating of polymer and clay. The coating is so thin that it neither adds weight nor negatively alters fabric texture or strength. "A lot of anti-flammables degrade fabric and cause it to tear," Grunlan said. In fact, his coating can actually strengthen fabric.

The technology’s applications could revolutionize options for sofas and other soft furnishings, airplane seat cushions, building insulation and even military camps, where one tent fire can wipe out all the others.

"Anywhere you want to make fabric or foam anti-flammable, you can use this technology," he said.

Grunlan oversees Texas A&M’s Polymer NanoComposites Laboratory, which researches nanostructure and microstructure of particle-polymer systems (details at nanocomposites.tamu.edu). Grunlan and Texas A&M colleague Choongho Yu have also received attention for their polymer composites that convert heat into electricity. More on this research can be found in the summer 2009 issue of Spirit magazine (pages 6 and 7).

To learn how you can support ground-breaking research at Texas A&M, contact Carl Jaedicke ’73 at (800) 392-3310 or amfoundation@tamu.edu.