Polypyrrole-based conducting hot melt adhesives for EMI shielding applications

Intrinsically conducting hot melt adhesives (ICHMAs) have been developed, b ased on polypyrrole (PPB) blends, for use in electronic and telecommunicati on applications requiring shielding against electromagnetic interference (E MI). These advanced materials have been formulated to exhibit significant E MI shielding effectiveness (SE) while retaining the superior properties of conventional hot melt adhesives. The conductivity properties, adhesion char acteristics and both near- and far-field EMI SE behaviour of these ICHMAs a t room temperature are investigated as a function of PPy content. The envir onmental stability of the conductivity is also reported. Potential use of s uch new materials in current and future electronic applications is anticipa ted. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.