Nanolaminate-based Infrared Coating

There is increasing need for coating materials that are opaque to infrared, both for military and commercial applications. The U.S. Navy needs a coating that can be easily and inexpensively applied, is opaque to infrared, transparent to microwave, and rapidly equilibrates to the temperature of the surroundings. Furthermore, the coating needs to be robust to marine environment and must meet the standard color requirements of Navy haze gray paint. Recently developed, electrically insulated, highly conductive nanolaminate flakes of polymers and aluminum , when added to conventional paints, have the potential of meeting these requirements. Sigma Labs - the developer of the process for nanolaminate production - will during this program demonstrate and commercialize the desired coating technology based on the nanolaminates. Sigma Labs, technical approach is to produce nanolaminate flakes (i.e. nanomaterials with pin-hole free thin aluminum layer sandwiched between pin-hole free thin layers of electrically insulating polymer) of different sizes and relative dimensions. The flakes will be mixed with paint, coated onto polymeric and metallic surfaces and evaluated for optical performance. The Phase I will establish the foundation for Phase II optimization, prototype production and field testing. Phase III will commercialize the coating for military and non-military applications.