ABSTRACT
In 1986, sales in the coatings industry exceeded $10 billion, and production approached a billion gallons.
The breakdown of sales was $4.1 billion for architectural coatings, $3.5 billion for industrial coatings, and $2.4 billion for specialty coatings. Conductive coatings — a minuscule part of these trade sales — have been used both as industrial coatings and as specialty coatings. Regulations of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in Docket No. 20780, which regulates electromagnetic emissions from computing devices, have provided a strong impetus for the commercial development of conductive polymeric materials (including coatings and paints). Since October 1, 1983, it has been necessary for any computing device that generated signals or pulses in excess of 10 kHz to comply with the emission standards set forth in the docket. Although conductive polymeric coatings have made inroads in areas where metallic coatings previously were used, progress has been slow.
