Portugal could make a decisive step in the global race for stealth technology, with the development of innovative radar-absorbing material that makes drones and military aircraft almost undetectable.
Portugal is developing a graphene-based material capable of significantly reducing the radar signature of drones and military aircraft, an innovation that could put Europe in the race for stealth technology.
The project is being implemented by GTechPlasma , a spin-off of the Plasma and Nuclear Fusion Institute of the Instituto Superior Técnico, in Lisbon, which has created a plasma-based system for the on-demand production of high-quality graphene-based materials.
“Right now, we are particularly focused on developing coatings to absorb radar and electromagnetic radiation,” explains Bruno Soares Gonçalves, co-founder of GTechPlasma, in an interview with Euronews.
The material is designed to absorb electromagnetic radiation, including radar waves, a characteristic critical for stealth applications.
"The most obvious applications at the moment are in the defense sector, but there are many more uses where this type of material has prospects for electromagnetic shielding, for reducing radiation. That is why we believe that we have an extremely interesting material for radar absorption coatings," estimates the researcher from the Instituto Superior Técnico, emphasizing that similar solutions are rare and are under strict international control.
"Today, there is no other similar solution in Europe and even worldwide it only exists in the United States. However, the material that, for example, covers the F-35 is non-exportable. Therefore, we have a material "made in Portugal" with high application potential," says Bruno Soares Gonçalves.
Graphene is a sheet of carbon atoms just one atom thick, which in this case is produced from precursors such as ethyl alcohol or methane, through plasma technology.
The team states that, by utilizing an innovative plasma technology, it can control the material at an atomic level, which allows its properties to be tailored to different applications.
Beyond radar absorption, the technology could be used for hydrogen storage or for separating rare earths and uranium, according to the researcher.
"There are many more applications where graphene and its derivatives can be used, but that requires control of the entire process at the atomic level. And that's exactly what we can do with our own device, which is patented in the United States, Japan and Europe," notes the man, who is also president of the Plasma and Nuclear Fusion Institute.
One of the most important applications is in the air force, to make an aircraft “invisible” to radar. “Our estimates of our material show that an F-16 can achieve a radar footprint equivalent to a bird. This implies a huge reduction in the radar signature, making the aircraft essentially invisible and much more difficult to detect.”
Reducing radar signature can provide a significant strategic advantage in a combat environment.
"This is important because the plane is not detected or is detected very late and therefore it is an advantage from a military point of view to be able to be detected by radar as late as possible during military missions," Bruno Soares Gonçalves explains to Euronews.
The technology is making strides towards industrialization, with GTechPlasma's devices already producing 40 milligrams per minute of high-quality graphene. However, the company wants to increase its capacity and has already found an industrial partner to scale up production.
The company Plasmaphene, which has received funding from the Compete 2030 program and is based in Vila Visoza, will proceed with the industrial production of the machine for the production of high-quality graphene.
“Our goal, at the production unit level, is to have multiple devices, not only for the extra safety that this offers, but also for the possibility of producing many materials simultaneously on different devices. Because, in reality, our machine is a platform for multiple materials. We can change the ‘recipe’ and produce different materials,” explains the Técnico researcher.
The company is also looking to expand its partnerships with defense companies, having already supplied 260 grams of the radar-absorbing material to a Portuguese drone manufacturer.
Currently, the material is produced in the form of a very light black powder, but the goal is to develop ready-to-use solutions closer to the end user. This includes designing coatings or paints that can be applied directly to surfaces such as drones.
"The goal is to provide solutions as close as possible to what the customer can use directly. Instead of just giving a powder, with which the customer has to figure out for themselves how to integrate it," says the head of GTechPlasma.
This innovation could bring Portugal to the forefront of graphene-based stealth technologies, with potential applications far beyond the defense sector.
"Plasma-enabled multifunctional platform for gram-scale production of graphene and derivatives"
Applied Materials Today, Vol. 36 (2024), Article 102056.
DOI: 10.1016/j.apmt.2024.102056
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