Concussions remain a pervasive—and often hidden—risk in sports, construction, defense, and everyday life. Despite widespread use of helmets and hardhats, many protective devices are bulky, uncomfortable, or insufficiently effective against high-speed impacts and blunt force trauma. Now, a team at The Ohio State University College of Medicine has unveiled a novel, cost-effective composite material that could revolutionize head protection. By integrating ordinary starch into ultralight aerogel foam, researchers report absorbing up to 70 percent of impact force in laboratory tests—an innovation with the potential to make headgear both lighter and more protective.
The Concussion Challenge
Epidemiology and Impact
Each year, millions of people worldwide experience concussions—from professional athletes suffering helmeted collisions to construction workers struck by falling objects. Beyond immediate symptoms such as headache, dizziness, and confusion, repeated mild traumatic brain injuries can lead to chronic cognitive impairments, depression, and accelerated neurodegeneration. The direct and indirect costs of concussion—including healthcare, lost productivity, and long-term care—run into the tens of billions of dollars annually.
Limitations of Existing Headgear
Current helmets and hardhats typically rely on foam or plastic shells to absorb kinetic energy. While these designs mitigate some injuries, they often sacrifice comfort and mobility. High-performance gear can be prohibitively expensive, limiting its use in community sports or resource-constrained workplaces. Moreover, many protective liners falter against combined threats of high-velocity strikes and crushing forces, leaving wearers vulnerable to concussive and sub-concussive blows.
Innovation: Starch-Infused Aerogel Composite
Aerogel Fundamentals
Aerogel—sometimes dubbed “frozen smoke”—is a synthetic porous material known for its extremely low density and excellent thermal insulation. Its honeycomb-like structure can trap air and dissipate energy, making it an attractive candidate for impact protection. However, pure aerogel is brittle and expensive, hindering its application in wearable gear.
Starch Integration
John LaRocco, lead author and research scientist in psychiatry at Ohio State’s College of Medicine, and his colleagues hypothesized that embedding inexpensive starch into aerogel could enhance toughness and energy absorption without significantly increasing weight. The team “baked” cornstarch into the aerogel matrix, producing a composite foam that retained aerogel’s ultralight properties while gaining flexibility and resilience.
Experimental Methods
Mock-Head Impact Tests
To evaluate the composite’s protective performance, the researchers constructed a mock headform equipped with force and motion sensors sandwiched between layers of test materials. Three configurations were assessed:
- No protection (control)
- Aerogel foam padding alone
- Aerogel–starch composite padding
In select trials, a standard hardhat shell was added to determine compatibility with existing helmet designs.
Projectile Launchers
Two launchers propelled regulation tennis balls at the headform from point-blank distances:
- A spring-powered “dog ball launcher,” delivering moderate blunt impacts
- A combustion-fired potato cannon, simulating higher-velocity strikes
High-speed cameras and triaxial accelerometers recorded impact force, headform acceleration, and foam deformation. The team’s custom computer-vision software analyzed footage to quantify deflection and energy dissipation.
Key Findings
Impact Force Reduction
Under the most rigorous conditions, the starch-infused aerogel composite absorbed approximately 70 percent of impact force—meaning only 30 percent transmitted to the headform. By contrast:
- Pure aerogel foam blocked roughly 50 percent of force, but fractured under repeated impacts.
- Control (no padding) allowed nearly full force transfer, causing catastrophic headform “injury” metrics.
Deformation and Durability
The composite bent only 31 percent as much as aerogel alone, indicating superior resistance to crushing and indentation. Critically, electronic sensors remained intact beneath the composite layer, whereas pure aerogel allowed sensor damage in high-energy trials.
Statistical Significance and Repeatability
Across 60 impact trials (20 per configuration), the composite’s performance was consistently superior (p < 0.01). The researchers noted minimal variance in force absorption, suggesting reliable behavior under diverse real-world conditions.
Expert Commentary
Dr. Taeyoon Eom, Co-Author
Eom, a recent Ohio State graduate whose own concussion in a boxing match spurred his interest, highlighted the material’s promise for sports and industrial safety:
“Our material is lightweight and inexpensive, so it should be used to increase the standard for concussion safety and offer more protection at less weight.”
Professor Ed Galea, University of Greenwich
Galea, who was not involved in the study, praised the iterative, data-driven approach:
“The fact that anyone has survived certain impacts seems miraculous. Materials that can reliably absorb and dissipate energy are vital, and a 70 percent reduction in force under simulated conditions is very impressive.”
Advantages Over Previous Aerogel Composites
Past studies have reported impact absorption up to 80 percent using aerogel composites. However, those experiments relied on costly binders and proprietary nanomaterials—limitations that made large-scale adoption impractical. LaRocco’s starch-based method uses readily available food-grade cornstarch and straightforward baking processes, driving down production costs by an estimated 80 percent.
Potential Applications
Sports Equipment
- Helmets for contact sports: Football, rugby, hockey, and cycling could incorporate thinner, lighter liners, improving fit and comfort without compromising safety.
- Mouthguards and headbands: Smaller protective accessories may benefit from the composite’s form-fitting flexibility.
Occupational Safety
- Hardhat liners: Construction, mining, and utility workers would gain enhanced protection against falling debris and blunt collisions while maintaining helmet mobility.
- Military and defense gear: Lightweight ballistic helmets could integrate the composite for added blunt-force mitigation during explosive events.
Consumer Products
- Protective wearables: Skateboarding, equestrian, and other recreational activities currently limited by uncomfortable or bulky headgear.
- Adaptive devices: Mobility aids for elderly or neurological patients—to cushion head impacts during falls.
Next Steps and Future Research
Human Subject Trials
The team plans to partner with institutional review boards and sports organizations to conduct helmet-wearing studies in controlled athletic settings. Gait analysis and sensor-embedded mouthguards will assess real-time concussion risk reduction.
Long-Term Durability Testing
Prolonged environmental exposure—UV radiation, moisture, temperature extremes—can degrade composite materials. Accelerated aging protocols will evaluate how the starch–aerogel matrix performs over months of outdoor use.
Scaling Production
Collaborations with materials-manufacturing companies are underway to optimize the baking process for industrial throughput. The goal is to produce panels or custom-molded liners at scale, ready for integration into commercial headgear by late 2026.
Limitations and Considerations
Weight and Bulk
Although ultralight relative to traditional foams, aerogel composites remain heavier than some advanced plastics. Engineers must balance liner thickness with overall helmet design constraints.
Moisture Sensitivity
Starch can absorb ambient moisture, potentially altering mechanical properties. Early prototypes will incorporate hydrophobic coatings to maintain consistent performance in humid conditions.
Cost-Benefit Analysis
While raw materials are inexpensive, retrofitting existing helmet designs and certifying new composites through regulatory bodies (e.g., ASTM, CE, NOCSAE) entail additional costs and time. Market adoption will hinge on demonstrated safety benefits and user acceptance.
Conclusion
The Ohio State team’s starch-infused aerogel composite represents a significant stride toward generating headgear that is both lighter and more protective than current offerings. By absorbing roughly 70 percent of impact force in rigorous laboratory simulations, this innovation holds promise across sports, industrial, and defense sectors. As researchers advance to human trials and production scaling, the prospect of thinner, flexible, cost-effective concussion protection moves closer to reality—potentially reducing the burden of brain injuries for millions worldwide.
References
LaRocco, J., Eom, T., Duggisani, T., Zalcberg, I., Xue, J., Seth, E., Zapata, N., Anksapuram, D., Muzumdar, N., & Zachariah, E. (2025). Wearable starch-infused aerogel composite for concussion prevention. Technologies.
Ohio State University College of Medicine. (2025, June 12). Researchers target improved anti-concussion headgear. Press Release.
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