Ordinary T-shirts could become body armor

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A simple cotton T-shirt may one day be converted into tougher, more comfortable body armor for soldiers or police officers.

Researchers at the University of South Carolina, collaborating with others from China and Switzerland, drastically increased the toughness of a T-shirt by combining the carbon in the shirt’s cotton with boron - the third hardest material on earth. The result is a lightweight shirt reinforced with boron carbide, the same material used to protect tanks.

Dr. Xiaodong Li, USC College of Engineering and Computing Distinguished Professor in Mechanical Engineering, co-authored the recent article on the research in the journal, Advanced Materials.

“USC is playing a leading role in this area. This is a true breakthrough,” Li said, calling the research “a conceptual change in fabricating lightweight, fuel-efficient, super-strong and ultra-tough materials. This groundbreaking new study opens up unprecedented opportunities.”

The scientists started with plain, white T-shirts that were cut into thin strips and dipped into a boron solution. The strips were later removed from the solution and heated in an oven. The heat changes the cotton fibers into carbon fibers, which react with the boron solution and produce boron carbide.

The result is a fabric that’s lightweight but tougher and stiffer than the original T-shirt, yet flexible enough that it can be bent, said Li, who led the group from USC. That flexibility is an improvement over the heavy boron-carbide plates used in bulletproof vests and body armor.

“The currently used boron-carbide bulk material is brittle,” Li said. “The boron-carbide nanowires we synthesized keep the same strength and stiffness of the bulk boron carbide but have super-elasticity. They are not only lightweight but also flexible. We should be able to fabricate much tougher body armors using this new technique. It could even be used to produce lightweight, fuel-efficient cars and aircrafts.”

The resulting boron-carbide fabric can also block almost all ultraviolet rays, Li said.
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I love the idea of lighter, more flexible armor. Not only to help police and the military, but it starts to really open up the possibilities for regular people to wear it. And the idea of using it in planes and cars is intriguing.
 
I'd love to walk down the street one day, Punch this really big ass guy, and have him break his hand punching my stomach.
 
So long as it is only available to military and law enforcement, than it is a good discovery.
 
Woo hoo! Can I get one that says "Geek Squad"?
 
Excellent I would love to wear one of these, when some idiot stabs me.
 
Izumoshep said:
So long as it is only available to military and law enforcement, than it is a good discovery.
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While I'm not keen on the idea of people punching each other at random, I'd love to be able to bike around town without having to worry about getting caught in the crossfire of a gang war. Inexpensive, lightweight armor sounds good to me.
 
While the idea of having this armour does sound awesome, I would have no need for it. Do any of us here really have a high chance of being shot at regularly?
 
Iteru said:
While the idea of having this armour does sound awesome, I would have no need for it. Do any of us here really have a high chance of being shot at regularly?
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Yeah the suburbs get REAL dangerous after dark
 
Iteru said:
While the idea of having this armour does sound awesome, I would have no need for it. Do any of us here really have a high chance of being shot at regularly?
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I've never been shot at myself, but one road I use for biking a lot has been the site of multiple gang shootouts. Even if I only protect part of my body, it's better than nothing.
 
Hmm, I still don't think those cases justify this armour being available to the public. None of you have actually been shot and it seems area specific. Overall we don't have people with guns in every street.
 
I think it should be available to the public just because there's no real reason for it not to be. If nothing else, it's relatively decent protection for our bodies in the form of a comfortable, fashionable t-shirt. That is, unless it's expensive. Then it would be foolhardy to provide it for commercial use.
 
Iteru said:
Hmm, I still don't think those cases justify this armour being available to the public. None of you have actually been shot and it seems area specific. Overall we don't have people with guns in every street.
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But why not make it as available as guns? People like to be safe. An extra layer of protection seems like a good way for certain companies to make money. And I don't seriously see people going around punching others because they have a bulletproof shirt on. Honestly...someone punches me, I'm going for their head no matter WHAT they're wearing (unless they have a helmet, of course...but those are widespread). There might be a few cocky people, but the majority of people would buy it for the feeling of being protected, even if they AREN'T in any real, regular danger.

It's like owning a gun. You may never have to use it, but some people feel safer just having one.
 
It just isn't necessary at all and just gives off the impression that you are likely to get attacked for just walking down the street. Is that really the message that we want to give off? I can only feel safe if I am wearing armour?
 
Iteru said:
It just isn't necessary at all and just gives off the impression that you are likely to get attacked for just walking down the street. Is that really the message that we want to give off? I can only feel safe if I am wearing armour?
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They would look like regular shirts. NO ONE would likely know you were wearing one. And, c'mon, no one's going to attack someone just because they have an armored shirt. It's still assault, even if they ARE better protected.

And we have people who want to, or do, carry guns around because it's the only way they feel safe. Why not give people something that will actually protect them, instead of something that will require reaction to be useful? Shit happens. Why can't people be prepared? Their money. Their body. People wearing them won't cause anarchy to erupt because people will think it's safe to attack everyone. They just give those who are, or who have a reason to be, paranoid/afraid a safety blanket. A safety blanket that can actually make them more safe.
 
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