Application Areas

ESD, EMI Shielding, Radar Absorbing Materials

Fractal Systems, Inc. has been successful in producing polymers and nanocomposites with tunable conductivity for effective use as ESD materials, EMI shielding and radar absorbing materials. Our materials and techniques have yielded products that are capable of effectively absorbing the electromagnetic energy in a wide frequency range where a combination of materials and layers are otherwise needed.

Environmental Sensors

These devices use thin or ultra thin (nanoscale) films where sensing is accomplished via amperometry or resistance/impedance measurements. We are currently developing Gas Sensors, particularly for pollutants such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides. Environmental sensing is another area we are active in, including chemical sensors and sensors for heavy metals in drinking water.

Biosensors

Biosensing is a third area actively pursued by us for the detection of biomolecules such as neurotransmitters. DNA Sensors for combating bioterrorism are also being developed at Fractal Systems, Inc. DNA hybridization biosensors give a colossal promise for the fast and simple detection of bio-weapons. Registration of hybridization event results in an instantaneous electrical signal. Our device relies on a label-free detection that eliminates the need for the indicator addition. Our developed polymer molecular interfaces hold a significant promise for inducing electrical signals accumulated from DNA interactions. We are working on direct electrochemical detection of a small pox DNA virus.

Transparent Conductors (Visible, IR)

Due to the copper-like conductivity that we have achieved with ICPs, thin films can be coated directly onto a variety of substrates, and used as transparent conductors for EMI shielding applications where transparency in the visible and in the mid infrared range is needed.

Electrochemical Capacitors

With the high conductivity ICPs developed at Fractal Systems, Inc. and the high surface area as a result of their nanoporous morphology, high performance capacitors, often referred to as ultracapacitors, are being developed. Devices based on our materials have the capability of power delivery and energy storage as well as performance that exceeds that of carbon or ruthenium oxide-based capacitors.

Photograph of Electrochemical Capacitors

Batteries

In addition to capacitors, we have been involved in the development of high capacity anode materials as well as polymer electrolytes for lithium ion batteries. Given below is a photograph of capacitors developed at Fractal Systems Inc. in collaboration with Evans Capacitor Company.

Electroluminescence

The advantages of organic materials as building blocks for photonic devices over current alternatives, is their promise to lead to cheaper and lighter devices, greater color variety, tunability, further miniaturization and easier processing and mechanical flexibility. Furthermore, organic materials have the potential for use in applications that are not accessible to conventional inorganic semiconductors. In addition, they can be fabricated by means of low-cost processes on driver circuits in a variety of formats and even on flexible substrates, permitting displays of any shape to be created. Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) are seen as future replacement technology for cathode ray tubes (CRTs) and liquid crystal displays (LCDs), which currently dominate the growing $40 billion annual electronic display market. As organics-based devices experience accelerated development efforts and dictated by the telecommunication, optical storage and display markets, our approach focuses on the fabrication of new emissive layers based on the highly fluorescent polymers, and composite materials for use in novel OLEDs.

Corrosion Inhibition

Corrosion of both ferrous and aluminum alloys represents a significant problem, particularly those at remote facilities and in aggressive marine environments. The corrosion can manifest itself in a number of ways including pitting, exfoliation, intergranular and filiform. These different corrosion forms are interchangeable and can lead to severe degradation of aluminum, aluminum alloys and steel structures if left unchecked and unprotected. Synthesis and characterization of nanocomposites of selected conducting polymers with derivatized inorganic oxides are being developed in our laboratory for corrosion inhibition materials.