Metal Coated Microspheres – Conductive Silver Coating

From early days engineers have been looking for ways to shield circuits from electromagnetic interference (EMI). One of the most effective methods of shielding is by creating an electrically conductive enclosure around the circuit or device. This can be accomplished by using any electrically conductive material. Advances in coated microspheres have enabled the creation of light weight electrically conductive coatings that provide excellent EMI shielding.

Electrically conductive microspheres are produced by applying a metallic silver coating to the surface of the microspheres, thus giving the advantages of a metal particle with the additional properties of the core microsphere.  Typically hollow glass microspheres are silver coated as this offers the combination of a low density filler and a conductive particle.   Coatings with EMI shielding of greater than 45db have been produced by adding as little as 20% by weight of M-18 silver coated microspheres.

Cospheric offers metal coated (silver)  electrically conductive microspheres in a variety of sizes and densities as shown in the table below, custom particle size ranges are also available:

What is a Microsphere?

Definition From Wikipedia,

Microsphere is a term used for small spherical particles, with diameters in the micrometer range (typically 1μm to 1000μm (1mm)). Microspheres are sometimes referred to as microparticles.

Microspheres can be manufactured from various natural and synthetic materials. Glass microspheres, polymer microspheres and ceramic microspheres are commercially available. Solid and hollow microspheres vary a lot in density and, therefore, are used for different applications. Hollow microspheres are typically used as additives to lower the density of a material. Solid microspheres have numerous applications depending on what material they are constructed of and what size they are. Continue reading “What is a Microsphere?” »