Angelos Kyrlidis | Cabot Corporation: How can a minor addition of carbon nanostructures yield a 30 dB boost in high-frequency EMI shielding?

Why does the morphology of cross-linked carbon nanostructures outperform standard multi-walled CNTs?

Cabot Corporation has developed a continuous roll-to-roll chemical vapor deposition process on catalyzed glass substrates to synthesize a unique class of carbon materials known as carbon nanostructures. Unlike traditional isolated carbon nanotubes, this process yields a highly branched, cross-linked forest of nanotubes harvested as flakes and processed into dust-free pellets.

This highly structured array morphology is fundamentally different from the disordered bird's nest morphology typical of conventional multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The physical branching and cross-linking prevent tight bundling, making the material significantly easier to disperse within polymer matrices while preserving high aspect ratio fragments during processing.

As a result, carbon nanostructures can establish highly efficient electrical percolation networks at exceptionally low loadings. This unique morphological advantage allows compounders to achieve target conductivity and electrostatic dissipative properties far more efficiently than with conventional carbon additives.

In this short video, you can learn:
* How continuous roll-to-roll CVD synthesis produces branched, cross-linked carbon nanostructures.
* Why the array-like morphology of CNS prevents the dispersion issues common to bird's nest MWCNTs.
* The mechanism behind forming highly efficient percolative networks at ultra-low filler loadings.

📋 **Clip Abstract**
Angelos Kyrlidis explains Cabot’s continuous roll-to-roll CVD process for producing unique, branched carbon nanostructures (CNS). He contrasts their highly cross-linked array morphology with conventional "bird's nest" multi-walled CNTs to demonstrate why CNS disperses easier and percolates at significantly lower loadings.

Can carbon nanostructure hybrids completely replace expensive silver fillers in high-end EMI shielding gaskets?

Elastomeric electromagnetic interference shielding gaskets, traditionally used in high-frequency electronic and aerospace applications, often rely on expensive silver fillers to achieve high conductivity. Finding a cost-effective alternative that maintains this shielding level without compromising elastomer flexibility is a major industry challenge.

Cabot's research into silicone elastomers demonstrates that hybridizing carbon nanostructures with conventional fillers can bridge this performance gap. By combining just 3 percent carbon nanostructures with 50 percent nickel-coated graphite, the resulting elastomer outperforms formulations containing 50 percent pure silver.

This hybrid formulation offers a highly cost-effective alternative for design engineers targeting high shielding effectiveness performance. This commercial strategy dramatically reduces raw material costs while maintaining the critical mechanical properties of silicone gaskets.

In this short video, you can learn:
* The synergy of combining carbon nanostructures with nickel-coated graphite in silicone elastomers.
* How a 3% CNS hybrid formulation matches or exceeds the EMI shielding performance of 50% silver.
* A highly viable strategy to significantly lower material costs for conductive silicone gaskets.

📋 **Clip Abstract**
Angelos Kyrlidis presents a highly cost-effective strategy for silicone elastomer EMI gaskets by hybridizing carbon nanostructures with nickel-coated graphite. He demonstrates how a formulation with 3% CNS and 50% nickel-coated graphite outperforms a 50% silver-filled elastomer, offering massive raw material cost savings.