CONDUCTIVE RETICULATED RESILIENT POLYMER FOAM

METAL DEPOSITION AND COATING PROCESSES DEVELOPED AT VERSAR INC. MAKE IT POSSIBLE TO MODIFY COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE RETICULATED FOAM MATERIALS SO THAT THEY WILL BE MORE CONDUCTIVE WITHOUT DEGRADING OTHER PROPERTIES UNACCEPTALY. THEREBY THE PROBLEM OF ELECTROSTATIC CHARGE BUILDUP DURING AIRCRAFT REFUELING OPERATIONS CAN BE ALLEVIATED AND THE RISK OF FIRES REDUCED. TWO PARALLEL APPROACHES ARE SUGGESTED:METAL COATING THE FOAM STRUCTURE AND METAL IMPREGNATING THE FOAM POLYMER MASS. EITHER SHOULD ACHIEVE THE OBJECTIVE OF REDUCED RE SISTVITY AND GOOD PHYSICAL PROPERTIES IN THE TREATED FOAM. WE PROPOSE TO INVESTIGATE A NUMBER OF COMBINATIONS OF METALS AND PROCESSES INVOLVING COBALT, NICKEL, COPPER, SILVER, GOLD AND PALLADIUM. FROM THESE WILL BE SELECTED THE BEST IN TERMS OF ATTAINED CONDUCTIVITY, PROCESSING EASE, AND FREEDOM FROM MATERIALS PROBLEMS. THE BEST PROCESS(ES) WILL BE USED TO PRODUCE SPECIMENS THAT WILL BE EVALUATED UNDER MIL-B-83054 TO SHOW THAT FEASIBILITY HAS BEEN ATTAINED IN PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AS WELL AS CONDUCTIVITY. A WORKING RELATIONSHIP ALREADY EXISTS BETWEEN VERSAR ANDAFWAL (MLBT) FROM JOINT EVALUATIONS OF OTHER MATERIALS.