Researchers test-drive Lamborghini's carbon fiber materials in space

Houston Methodist researchers are studying Italian sports car maker Automobili Lamborghini's carbon fiber materials in space.

The research payload, scheduled to launch no earlier than Nov. 2 to the International Space Station (ISS), is part of a collaborative project involving Houston Methodist Research Institute, Automobili Lamborghini and the ISS U.S. National Laboratory (ISS National Lab).

The 6-month study aboard the ISS will evaluate the ability of Lamborghini's carbon fiber materials to withstand temperature fluctuations, radiation exposure (including ultraviolet and linear energy transfer), vacuum and atomic oxygen exposure.

"Environmental conditions at low-Earth orbit allow us to evaluate the properties and robustness of the carbon fiber materials under extreme conditions," said Alessandro Grattoni, Ph.D., study principal investigator and chair of the department of nanomedicine at Houston Methodist Research Institute. "This is a unique environment to learn more about their properties and characteristics, in the hope of one day developing technologies and devices that could be used on Earth and in space."

Grattoni heads the Center for Space Nanomedicine at Houston Methodist Research Institute and began sending select research projects to the ISS in 2015. The center's focus is on nanotechnology-based therapeutics, biomedical devices for precision medicine, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. The Lamborghini project is the fourth of 10 experiments from Grattoni's lab scheduled for the ISS over the next several years.

For the past 12 years, Grattoni's work has focused on implantable nanochannel platforms to control the delivery of therapies for a variety of chronic medical needs, including HIV-prevention, muscle atrophy, obesity and cancer.

Grattoni is already collaborating with Lamborghini on another project to study the biocompatibility of the automaker's proprietary carbon fiber composites for implantable devices. Understanding the durability of Lamborghini's proprietary material in accelerated and extreme environmental conditions in space could help future research efforts for biomedical technologies beyond drug-delivery devices, such as in prostheses and in dental and orthopedic implants.

"Compared to conventional materials, Lamborghini's carbon fiber composites could prove to be more durable at a fraction of the weight. If this study shows mechanical strength and robustness, I could see the possibility of additional applications within the aerospace industry."

Lamborghini's Advanced Composite Lightweight Structures Department of Research & Development is the carmaker's unit focused on the research and production of carbon fiber composite materials in their vehicles.