Conductive elastomer for grafting to a metal substrate
AssigneeThomas & Betts International, Inc.
InventorsDavid R. Crotzer, Mark G. Hanrahan, Neill N. Silva
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Abstract
An electrically conductive elastomer for grafting to a metal substrate is disclosed. The electrically conductive elastomer includes a mixture of an elastic material, a quantity of electrically conductive flakes, a thermoplastic elastomer material, a conductive thermoplastic polymer material, and a noble metal or noble metal composite material. The electrically conductive elastomer may further include a quantity of electrically conductive particles interspersed within the mixture. Alternatively, a quantity of electrically conductive particles may be imbedded in an outer surface of the electrically conductive elastomer. The electrically conductive elastomer is typically grafted to the substrate by a thermal process.
Claims47
An electrical interconnect comprising:
- a substrate, said substrate having an outer surface, said substrate being formed of a conductive metal material;
- and
- a conductive elastomer grafted to at least a portion of said outer surface of said substrate, said conductive elastomer being formed with a mixture of a non-conductive elastic material, a quantity of conductive flakes, a thermoplastic elastomer material, a conductive thermoplastic polymer material, and a conductive metal material.
A conductive elastomer comprising a mixture of a non-conductive elastic material, a quantity of conductive flakes, a thermoplastic elastomer material, a conductive thermoplastic polymer material, and a conductive metal material.
A method for grafting a conductive elastomer to a metal substrate, said method comprising the steps of:
- providing a substrate, said substrate having an outer surface, said substrate being formed of a conductive noble metal material;
- applying a conductive elastomer to said outer surface of said substrate, said conductive elastomer being formed with a mixture of a non-conductive elastic material, a quantity of conductive flakes, a thermoplastic elastomer material, a conductive thermoplastic polymer material, and a conductive metal material;
- and
- subjecting said substrate and said conductive elastomer to a thermal process so that polymer chains in said conductive elastomer are grafted to polymer chains in said substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.