Low-Cost Method for Metal Nano-Coating of Anisotropic Carbon Fibers

In this SBIR project, Aegis Technology proposes to develop a low-cost, scalable coating process capable of producing highly conductive metal nano-coating for carbon fibers. The resultant coated fibers would be excellent attenuators in the microwave frequencies(including millimeter wave). In the accomplished Phase I, Aegis has successfully demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed approach, identified the direction for further improvement, and established a solid basis for the process optimization and scaling up that will be carried out in this Phase II. Based upon the findings and success of the Phase I, in this the Phase II project, Aegis will: (1) develop and demonstrate a novel metal nano-coating technology and the resultant highly conductive metal-coated carbon fibers with excellent extinction coefficient in microwave frequencies; (2) further identify the underlying technical issues that govern the fabrication and performance of the metal nano-coated carbon fibers and address the technical issues related with process optimizations and scaling up; (3) use this knowledge to design and manufacture such high-performance metal coated carbon fibers that exhibit optical/electrical performances as required by Army; and (4) implement technology transfer for potential mass production that satisfies or even exceed all of the required performance metrics.In addition, we will also address the issues related with dispersion, packing and dissemination of metal nano-coated carbon fibers, which are essential to transfer this technology into potential field tests and subsequent military applications.