Coating Compounds for EMI/RFI Shielding

Key Benefits of Conductive Coatings

Effective Shielding: High dB attenuation 
Creates a barrier against electromagnetic interference, maintaining the integrity of electronic signals and protecting sensitive circuitry across a broad frequency range.

Lightweight Solution: Low weight
Offers an alternative to traditional metal enclosures; a fraction of the weight, ideal for aerospace, portable electronics, and wearable applications.

Versatility: Multi-substrate
Works with plastics, metals, and composites, and conforms to complex 3D geometries that would be difficult or impossible to shield with rigid enclosures.

Easy Application: Brush- or spray-applied
Relatively non-toxic and special products are water-based. Spraying (with proper equipment) further increases shielding effectiveness and coating uniformity.

Reliable Adhesion Across Multiple Substrates

Conductive EMI/RFI shielding coatings are designed to adhere to a wide range of enclosure materials, enabling reliable shielding performance across diverse electronic applications.

Metals 
Conductive coatings can form strong bonds to metal surfaces. Surface preparation: abrasion and solvent wipe help remove oxidation and contaminants, and maximize contact area. The coating's conductive filler (silver, graphite, or silver-coated nickel) makes intimate contact with the substrate, ensuring both electrical continuity and adhesion across the shielded surface.

Plastics & Composites 
Many Master Bond formulations are engineered to wet out plastic and composite surfaces effectively, including ABS, polycarbonate, and fiber-reinforced composites. This makes them particularly well-suited to shielding molded enclosures where metal fabrication would be impractical.

Electrostatic Dissipative (ESD) Adhesives & Coatings

Many conductive coatings and adhesives also provide electrostatic dissipative (ESD) protection for sensitive electronic components and assemblies. As electronics become smaller and more powerful, controlling static buildup is critical to preventing device damage and maintaining long-term reliability.

ESD materials safely dissipate static charges before discharge can occur. This helps protect circuitry during manufacturing, assembly, and operation. Master Bond offers electrically conductive and ESD epoxy and silicone systems that also provide benefits such as EMI/RFI shielding, environmental resistance, structural bonding, and thermal stability.

Available in a range of viscosities and chemistries — including water-based formulations — these systems are compatible with automated dispensing and coating processes and adhere well to plastics, metals, and composite substrates.