Commercial Applications of Metal Rubber™

摘要

This paper describes the commercial applications of Metal Rubber™, the first material of its kind, a self-assembled free-standing electrically conductive elastomer in biomedical, aerospace and microelectronic areas. Metal Rubber™ is a novel nanocomposite formed via the self-assembly processing of metal nanoparticles and elastomeric polyectrolytes. This type of processing allows for control over bulk mechanical and electrical properties and requires only ppm quantities of metal to achieve percolation. The use of nanostructured precursors also results in transparent, electrically conductive nanocomposites. Metal Rubber™ elastomers are being developed as electrodes, for biomedical applications; flexible interconnects for microelectronics, and sensors to detect fatigue, impact and large strain for aerospace applications. This novel material may be formed as a conformal coating on nearly any substrate or as free standing films.