SOLUBLE CONDUCTING POLYMERS FOR EMI SHIELDING COMPOSITES

ADDRESSING THE NEED FOR LIGHT-WEIGHT CORROSION RESISTANT MATERIALS FOR EMI SHIELDING, THE NOVEL TECHNOLOGY PROPOSED HEREIN UTILIZES SOLUBLE CONDUCTING (SEMICONDUCTING) POLYMERS DEVELOPED IN GUMB'S LABORATORIES FOR UNRELATED APPLICATIONS. THESE POLYMERS HAVE 6% W/W OR HIGHER SOLUBILITY IN ORGANIC SOLVENTS AND BULK CONDUCTIVITIES AS HIGH AS 2,000 S/CM (DATA PRESENTED HEREIN). STABILITY, DURABILITY (INCLUDING WATER-REPELLENCY) AND NON-CORROSIVE NATURE OF THE POLYMERS ARE ALREADY PROVEN. SINCE EXTENSIVE WORK IN OTHER LABS HAS SHOWN THAT EMI SHIELDING EFFECTIVENESS (SE) IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO CONDUCTIVITY AND 1 S/CM CONDUCTIVITY MATERIALS CAN PROVIDE 30 DB OR MORE OF SE IN THE 1 - 100 MHZ RANGE, THE PROPOSED TECHNOLOGY WILL EASILY MEET THE TARGETED 60 DB SE. THE PROPOSED WORK SEEKS FIRSTLY TO TEST ALREADY SYNTHESIZED SOLUBLE POLYMERS AS THE MATRIX COMPONENT IN COMPOSITES WITH FILLERS SUCH AS GRAPHITE CLOTH, GRAPHITE FIBER, CARBON BLACK OR METAL-COATED GLASS FIBER, FOR EMI SE IN ACCORDANCE WITH ASTM ES 7-83, MIL-STD-462 AND RELATED SPECIFICATIONS AT 10 KHZ - 1 GHZ IN NEAR AND FAR FIELD ESTIMATIONS. THE POLYMER'S SOLUBILITY RENDERS COMPOSITE FABRICATION FACILE. THE WORK WILL ALSO SEEK TO IMPROVE CONDUCTIVITY, SOLUBILITY AND STABILITY OF THE POLYMERS FURTHER, AND SELECTED ADDITIONAL NOVEL POLYMERS WILL BE SYNTHESIZED. ADVANTAGES OF THE TECHNOLOGY INCLUDE LIGHT WEIGHT, NON-CORROSIVENESS, LOW COST, HIGH AND CONTROLLABLE CONDUCTIVITY, AND FABRICATION INTO COMPLEX SHAPES.