Abstract
With the widespread development and use of electronics and telecommunication devices, electromagnetic radiation has emerged as a new pollution. In this study, we fabricated flexible multifunctional nanocomposites by incorporating graphene nanoplatelets into a soft thermoplastic matrix and investigated its performance in attenuating electromagnetic radiation over frequency ranges of C (5.85–8.2 GHz), X (8.2–12.4 GHz), and Ku bands (12.4–18 GHz). Effects of nanofiller loading, sample thickness, and radiation frequency on the nanocomposites shielding effectiveness (SE) were investigated via experimental measurements and simulation. The highest rate of increase in SE was observed near percolation threshold of graphene. Comparison of reflectivity and absorptivity revealed that reflection played a major role in nanocomposites shielding potential for all frequencies while the low absorptivity was due to high power reflection at nanocomposite surface and thin thickness. Subsequently, effective absorbance calculations revealed the great potential of nanocomposites for absorbing microwaves, reaching more than 80%. Simulations confirmed the observed nanocomposites SE behaviours versus frequency. Depending on thickness, different frequency dependency behaviours were observed; for thin samples, SE remained unchanged, while for thicker samples it exhibited either increasing or decreasing trends with increasing frequency. At any fixed frequency, increasing the thickness resulted in sine-wave periodic changes in SE with a general increasing trend.
Highlights
In 1940, it was established theoretically that graphene is the building block of graphite [1], but it was not until 2004 that single layers of graphene were experimentally prepared in a laboratory [2].As one of the thinnest materials in the universe [3], this new member of carbon allotropes has created tremendous excitement in materials research
We studied the electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance of a new graphene-based nanocomposite with poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) as the matrix
In a previous work [49], we investigated the microwave attenuation capability of biodegradable nanocomposites composed of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) and polylactide
Summary
In 1940, it was established theoretically that graphene is the building block of graphite [1], but it was not until 2004 that single layers of graphene were experimentally prepared in a laboratory [2]. Polymers 2018, 10, 582 properties [4,15,16,17,18] Application of such hybrid materials for electromagnetic interference shielding has been the focus of many recent studies [19,20,21,22,23], as a light-weight replacement for the conventional metal-based shielding materials. Polymeric nanocomposites with electromagnetic properties are attracting attention as the generation of efficient, light-weight and flexible EMI shielding materials [26,30,31,32]. We studied the EMI shielding performance of a new graphene-based nanocomposite with poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) as the matrix. This polymer, in spite of its origin (petroleum), is capable of complete biodegradation, depending on the composting environment. Percolation behaviour of the GNPs in the polymeric matrix was investigated with respect to both electrical conductivity and rheological behaviour
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