99--TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OPPORTUNITY - FLEXIBLE HIGH-TEMPERATURE SILVERELECTROPLATED FILM THERMOCOUPLE

NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA solicits inquiries from companies interested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture and market the following technology. License rights may be issued on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis and may include specific fields of use. THE TECHNOLOGY: Scientists at NASA Langley Research Center have developed a process for producing metallized polymer films with thick conductive metal coatings. These thin films have shown promise not only as reflective coatings but also conductive coatings. NASA believes that its technology may offer advantages to sensor companies, especially thermocouples as the conductive films show a volume resistivity approaching the pure metal. Polyimides have been tested, but the technology is expected to work with a variety of solvent castable polymers, as well as a variety of metal coatings, including silver, palladium, copper, and aluminum. The process is simple, readily scalable, does not employ vacuum processing, does not require a separate step for surface preparation or deposition of a tie-coat, and provides excellent adhesion. Functionally the invention creates a metal tie-coat as part of the plastic film casting and curing process. The as-processed self-metallized film is then subjected to electroplating using the self-metallized layer as an electrode in order to build up substantial thickness of high quality metal film. It is believed that the entire process of film formation and electroplating could be run in a continuous fashion. The conformable nature of this sensor enables it to be located in tight spaces and also around complex shapes where monitoring would otherwise be difficult. In automotive, it could apply to under the hood sensing; in aeronautics, it could offer benefit on structures and areas of high thermal load; and in industrial monitoring, it lends itself to extreme environments. Other applications might include capacitors, flexible circuit boards (flex circuits), varied sensors, antennas, and EMI shielding. To express interest in this opportunity, please respond to [email protected] with the title of this Technology Transfer Opportunity as listed in this FBO notice and your preferred contact information. Please also provide the nature of your interest in the technology along with a brief background of your company. For more information about licensing other NASA-developed technologies, please visit the NASA Technology Transfer Portal at http://technology.nasa.gov/ . These responses are provided to members of NASA Langleys Office of Strategic Analysis and Business Development OSACB for the purpose of promoting public awareness of NASA-developed technology products, and conducting preliminary market research to determine public interest in and potential for future licensing opportunities. If direct licensing interest results from this posting, OSACB will follow the required formal licensing process of posting in the Federal Register. No follow-on procurement is expected to result from responses to this Notice.