A lightweight, elastic, and thermally insulating stealth foam with high infrared-radar compatibility

• Main Authors: Gu, Weihua, Ong, Samuel Jun Hoong, Shen, Yuhong, Guo, Wenyi, Fang, Yiting, Ji, Guangbin, Xu, Zhichuan Jason
• Other Authors: School of Materials Science and Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Engineering::Materials; Electromagnetic Interference Shielding; Infrared-Radar Compatibility
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/164921
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The development of infrared-radar compatible materials/devices is challenging because the requirements of material properties between infrared and radar stealth are contradictory. Herein, a composite of poly(3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) coated melamine foam is designed to integrate the advantages of the dual materials and the created heterogeneous interface between them. The as-designed PEDOT:PSS@melamine composite shows excellent mechanical properties, outstanding thermal insulation, and improved thermal infrared stealth performance. The relevant superb radar stealth performance including the minimum reflection loss value of -57.57 dB, the optimum ultra-wide bandwidth of 10.52 GHz, and the simulation of radar cross section reduction value of 17.68 dB m2 , can be achieved. The optimal specific electromagnetic wave absorption performance can reach up as high as 3263.02 dB·cm3 g-1 . The average electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness value can be 30.80 dB. This study provides an approach for the design of high-performance stealth materials with infrared-radar compatibility.