Nanofiber-Enhanced Polymers for EMI Shielding

The current state-of-the-art for providing electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding is to use a polymer coating that has been loaded with up to 87% silver or another metal filler. This approach is both expensive and heavy. Under this Phase I SBIR program, Applied Sciences, Inc., will incorporate regular and metal-coated carbon nanofibers (CNF) into an appropriate polymer matrix to produce a spray-on coating that will meet or exceed the required EMI shielding requirement of 5 dB/mil. The end result of this research will be a new multi-functional coating material that will not only provide exceptional EMI protection, but will also increase thermal conductivity and provide lightning strike protection (LSP).