Nomex

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NOMEX is the registered brand name of a flame retardant meta-aramid material marketed and first discovered by DuPont in the 1970s. It can be considered an aromatic "nylon". It is sold in both fiber and sheet forms and is used as a fabric wherever resistance from heat and flame is required. Nomex sheet is actually a calendered paper and made in a similar fashion. Nomex type 410 paper is the original and one of the larger grade types made, mostly for electrical insulation purposes. The Spruance plant, in Richmond, VA is the sole North American paper production site. The paper is used in electrical laminates such as circuit boards and transformer cores as well as fireproof honeycomb structures where it is saturated with a phenolic resin. Honeycomb structures such as these, as well as mylar-nomex laminates are used extensively in aircraft construction. Both the firefighting and vehicle racing industries use NOMEX to create clothing and equipment that can stand up to intense heat. It is the meta variant of the para-aramid Kevlar. Both aramids are heat and flame resistant but Kevlar, having a para- orientation can be molecularly aligned and gives high strength. Meta aramid polymer cannot align during filament formation and has poor strength. NOMEX fiber its made in USA and in Spain (Asturias).

A NOMEX hood is a common piece of firefighting equipment. It is placed on the head on top of a firefighter's face mask. The hood protects the portions of the head not covered by the helmet and face mask from the intense heat of the fire.

Race car drivers commonly use a similar hood to protect them in the event that a fire engulfs their car. Military pilots and aircrew wear one-piece coveralls (flight suits) made of over 92% NOMEX, to protect them from the possibility of cockpit fires and other mishaps. The remaining 8% is usually Kevlar thread used to hold the fabric together at the seams.

In the U.S. space program, NOMEX has been used for the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (in conjunction with Kevlar and Gore-Tex) and ACES pressure suit, both for fire and extreme environment (water immersion to near vacuum) protection, and as thermal blankets on the payload bay doors, fuselage, and upper wing surfaces of the Space Shuttle Orbiter. It has also been used for the airbags for the Mars Pathfinder and MER rovers, the Galileo atomospheric probe, the Cassini-Huygens Titan probe, and will be incorporated into the new Crew Exploration Vehicle that will replace the Shuttle after 2010.

The DuPont scientist responsible for discoveries leading to the creation of NOMEX, Dr. Wilfred Sweeny, earned a Lavoisier medal [1] partly for this work in 2002.