Exfoliated graphite nanoplatelet (xGnP) filled EVA/EOC blends nanocomposites for efficient microwave absorption in the S-band (2–4 GHz)

Abstract

Inspired by hazardous effects of electromagnetic waves on human health related to increasing exposure to electronic devices in day-to-day life we have developed a low cost, light weight and flexible EMI shielding material based on exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets (xGnP) filled ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)/Ethylene-octene copolymer (EOC) blend composite by melt mixing method. X-ray diffraction revel that inclusion of xGnP affect the crystallinity of EVA/EOC blend which has also been seconded by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness of the nanocomposites and electromagnetic properties were conducted over microwave frequency range of 1.5–8 GHz. It has been observed that with inclusion of xGnP into EVA/EOC matrix there is significantly improvement of EMI SE values in S- band (2–4 GHz) region and highest total EMI SE value of −67.63 dB at 30 wt% of xGnP loading was achieved mainly due to absorption mechanism. The composite exhibit ac conductivity of 455.8 S/m which is much higher than that of neat EVA/EOC blends. The dc conductivity 5.3 × 10−8 S/m was obtained for 30 wt% xGnP EVA/EOC blend. To our belief, this EVA/EOC/xGnP composite can be utilized as an efficient EMI shielding material in S-band.