Ceramic/Polymide Nanocomposite Possessing Controlled Coefficient of Thermal Expansion

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will focus on development of unique ceramic/polyimide nanocomposite materials. It will demonstrate the ability to formulate a polyimide (or other polymer material) with a designed coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) through the covalent incorporation of ceramic nanophase materials. The key tasks involve (1) sol-gel synthesis of ceramic nanospheres possessing a negative CTE (2) covalently bonding them into the backbone of the polyimide through the use of bi-functional linker molecules and (3) evaluation of various doping levels of the ceramic nanospheres to determine optimum impact on the CTE of the composite material. In terms of commercial uses, polyimides have wide application as films in the electronics, aerospace, and manufacturing industries where they are used for flexible circuitry, insulation materials, speaker cones, automotive switches, disk drives, and in many other applications. A common problem in the design of these systems using polyimides is the inherently high CTE of these materials and to a certain extent poor thermal dimensional stability. The proposed effort seeks to provide an approach to resolve these issues.