Mechanical properties of elastomer nanocomposites for electromagnetic interference shielding applications

A novel elastomer foamed nanocomposite has been developed with high electromagnetic dissipation and shielding properties. This light-weight foamed fluorocarbon incorporates multi-walled carbon nanotubes at low loading concentrations to achieve levels of conductivity and energy shielding that surpass the requirements for electromagnetic static discharge and electromagnetic interference shielding. These nanocomposites are significantly lighter than their metallic filled counterparts and foaming the material can further reduce the density by another 20% with minimal impact on electromagnetic static discharge or electromagnetic interference characteristics. The measurement of mechanical properties was performed and compared with commercially available electromagnetic interference shielding gasket materials. Currently available metal-filled electromagnetic interference shielding materials suffer from poor mechanical properties due to the high loading of metal fillers. Not only are these material systems heavy, but they are not durable. Replacing the metal fillers with a lower concentration of multi-walled carbon nanotubes provides excellent mechanical properties and lighter weight. Stress/strain curves show a high Young's modulus and display the ability to be able to tailor the physical properties to meet a variety of functional requirements.