Conductive Coatings:"I love my job & feel like part of a family." - Norma

Conductive paint is widely used in the electronics industry today for EMI/ RFI shielding and electrostatic discharge (ESD) control. The main objective of any type of shielding is to prevent the passage of electromagnetic waves into or out of the device.

The fundamental aim is to establish a Faraday cage (named after Michael Faraday who formulated the laws of electromagnetism) to provide an EMI shield.

For aesthetics, cost, and weight considerations, manufacturers of electronic equipment like to use plastic enclosures. However, plastic provides no shielding unless measures are taken to provide a conductive surface. Conductive paint, sprayed onto parts using air atomizer spray equipment, is ideal for the control of EMI in plastic enclosures.

At Strategic, we work with our customers to identify cost effective methods of managing these EMI/RFI shielding opportunities.

Conductive paint was one of the first methods used for EMI shielding of plastics and is still one of the most popular methods. There are many types of conductive paints available: silver, silvered copper, copper, and nickel. The metal conductive fillers are included in a variety of paint systems to provide the continuous metal network. The choice of conductive filler is critical to achieving good results. Copper and silver based paints provide good EMI shielding against electrical fields, but are not as effective against magnetic fields. Nickel based paints are resistant to scratching and have a lower level of conductivity than other paints.

At Strategic, we offer a broad base of Spraylat conductive paints to address our customer’s EMI shielding requirements. Depending on the customer need and budget, we can provide all four major types of conductive paints; silver, silvered copper, copper and nickel.