US scientists reveal bulletproof T-shirts

[ericire12]

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/290556

A new miracle material has been developed by a team of scientists that will soon turn simple T-shirts into sturdy armour.
These scientists have developed the flexible T-shirts to be strong enough to stop speeding bullets.
The fabric is made from the same material used in tank armour, a material produced by combining carbon with the world's third-hardest material.
Xiaodong Li, from the University of Carolina, along with a team of researchers came up with the idea of mixing one of the strongest materials in existence with one of the softest and most supple, namely cotton.
The process involves the T-shirts being treated with boron and then heated to more than 1000C in an oven, changing fibres in the T-shirt from cotton to carbon.
After a reaction between the boron and carbon fibres, boron carbide is produced - the material that tank armour and bulletproof plates in armoured vests are made from.
"It could even be used to produce lightweight, fuel-efficient cars and aircrafts," Prof Li said.
Despite being somewhat stiffer and less bendable than normal T-shirts the resulting material is still flexible enough to by worn normally.
"We expect that the nanowires can capture a bullet," Xiaodong Li, wrote in the journal Advanced Materials.
The uses of the T-shirts go far beyond simply blocking bullets however.
The boron carbide in the T-shirts is also used in numerous nuclear applications such as shielding and in control rods.
"Almost all" ultraviolet rays as well as life-threatening neutrons that are usually emitted from decaying radioactive substances could be blocked by the T-shirt, Prof Li said.

[Solus]

Have to be pretty rigid and inflexible and not much stretch...or you will have a bullet cavity lined with this material and the bullet still encased in it.

[Texas_Bryan]

Have to be pretty rigid and inflexible and not much stretch...or you will have a bullet cavity lined with this material and the bullet still encased in it.

I got a bunch of shirts that could stop a baseball bat.  But I wouldn't want to be wearing them at the time.

[sledgemeister]

Have to be pretty rigid and inflexible and not much stretch...or you will have a bullet cavity lined with this material and the bullet still encased in it.

Yup, I wonder how such a thin material would stop kinetic energy. All well and good stopping a 44mag in the guts or chest but the 1200 fpe has to go some where other wise massive internal injuries will kill some one just the same.
It has merits as a secondary layer though under a standard vest, flack jacket etc.

Sort of remonds me of the old samuari using silk under the armour, if a arrow made it through it would push the silk into the wound channel and all they had to do was pull on the silk to excise the arrow head.

[Solus]

Yeah..for most handgun bullets it would need to be able to distribute the force over maybe the size of your palm.

That is about what area absorbs that force upon firing, with some additional recoil reduction of your hand/arm/shoulder

[Sponsor]

[ericire12]

I think we can clearly say that these guys that developed this and are touting this as a bullet proof t-shirt have absolutly no real world knowledge about guns and ballistics.

[Solus]

Even with the concerns we expressed, which might be handled by the material better than we expect, I'd rather be wearing it when I got shot than my everyday Fruit-Of-The-Loom.

[tombogan03884]

Even with the concerns we expressed, which might be handled by the material better than we expect, I'd rather be wearing it when I got shot than my everyday Fruit-Of-The-Loom.

I think I would prefer a conventional bullet wound, what is the first aid for a bruise so large your neighbors hurt ?  

[JC5123]

I think I would prefer a conventional bullet wound, what is the first aid for a bruise so large your neighbors hurt ?  

Lance your neighbor and let them bleed out?

[fightingquaker13]

Something I learned from reading this board was that back in the day (prohibition era) they made bullet proof vests out of silk that were actually effective at stopping the .32 rounds that were standard police issue. I would believe this could do the same, but I do wonder about the kinetic shock. We are seeing a lot of brain injuries now because the kevlar helment works against shrapnel and bullets, but the kinetic force still does serious damage.
FQ13