Ultra-Pure Viscoelastic Damping Polymers and Associated Low Outgassing Materials

The key to successful multifunctional materials applications for vibration, shock and acoustic control is often the proper selection of materials, geometric design and optimum application. Much work has been done in the areas of geometric designs and optimum application of the multi-functional materials. The next step is improvements in the passive damping materials themselves. The improvement in the passive materials in the past has often focused on the areas of improved damping performance (loss factor, storage modulus), material performance (acrylics, silicones, etc.) and enhanced features (thermally conductive, electrically conductive, etc). One of the newest requirements for passive damping polymers is in the area of ultra-pure viscoelastic damping polymers. This new generation of materials is finding growing use because the sensitive environment where the passive material is used require a material that will not negatively impact the components in that environment. This new generation of passive materials needs to be ultra-pure with respect to organic material outgassing, anions, catalysts and siloxanes. In addition to the viscoelastic damping polymer requirements for high purity, the associated polymeric materials (epoxies, laminating adhesives and tapes) used in the same environment must also be of a similar low outgassing, ultra-pure, ultra-clean, electronics grade or clean room performance designation. If this is not done, the environment could become contaminated and negate a portion of the benefit of using the clean damping material. This also requires an understanding of the test method used to determine each product’s cleanliness performance, as all test methods are not equal and can give significantly different test results. An example is comparing a polymer sample tested for organic outgassing and using a static headspace gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) and a dynamic headspace GC/MS.