This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I Program will test a solution processing scheme for fabricating a multifunctional Metal/Polymer NanoComposite (MPNC) fiber from a class of rigid-chain lyotropic liquid crystalline polymers. The functionality is introduced by incorporation of a metal precursors that can be blended in with the polymer host and then converted in-situ, templating the morphology of the polymer fiber matrix and form a continuous metal network in the polymer host. The proposed processing scheme can be readily incorporated into the commercial production of many high-performance polymer fibers. The host polymers include rigid-rod polymers such as poly(p-phenylene benzobisoxazole) (PBO), poly(p-phenylene benzobisthiazole) (PBZT) and extended-chain polymers such as poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide) (PPTA). These high performance polymers exhibit exceptional mechanical tensile strengths of 400-800 Ksi and Young's moduli of 25-50 Msi, and thermal degradation temperature up to approximately 500?C. Most importantly, since the metal network is embedded in the polymer matrix, the metal to polymer interface adhesion is dramatically improved via an interlocking mechanism. In contrast, the commercially available metallized fiber suffers from potential fatigue or delamination in thermal or mechanical cycles owing to the metals being coated only on the surface of the polymer fiber.Anticipated Benefits/Commercial Applications: These light-weight conductive high performance Metal/Polymer NanoComposite (MPNC) fibers will have tremendous potential for the near term applications such as signal and power transfer and electromagnetic shielding (EMI). The replacement of metal signal wires in existing aircraft and satellites with the MPNC fibers will result in substantial weight-savings which will lead to enhanced system performance.
