Abstract
In industrial equipment and home appliance applications, the electromagnetic compatibility compliance directive (ECCD) demands that electromagnetic interference side effects be eliminated or marginally minimized. The equipment must not disturb radio and telecommunication as well as other appliances. Additionally the ECCD also governs the immunity of such equipment to interference and seeks to ensure that this equipment is not disturbed by radio emissions when used as intended. Many types of absorbing materials are commercially available. However, many are expensive and not environmentally friendly. It is in the light of the above that we studied the electromagnetic absorption properties of ZnO-PCL nanocomposites prepared from cheap and abundant resources which are environmentally friendly (zinc and polycaprolactone). The test was carried out using a microstrip, open ended coaxial probe, and vector network analyzer. Amongst other findings, result showed that the ZnO-PCL nanocomposite has the capability of attenuating microwave frequency up to −18.2 dB due to their very high specific surface areas attributed to the nanofillers at 12 GHz.
Highlights
The organic-inorganic hybrid materials possess interesting functions through the amalgamation of the important properties from both components [1,2,3]
For the preparation of the nanocomposites used in this study, the following were used: zinc oxide (ZnO) 99.9% purity, with density of 5.606 g/cm3 (Sigma, Aldrich), ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) 99.8% purity, with density of 860 mg/mL (Sigma Aldrich), polycaprolactone (PCL) (C6H10O2) 97.0% purity, with density of 1.146 g/cm3 (Sigma Aldrich), deionized water (DIW) (H2O) with density 1.0 g/cm3, and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), 86.89% purity (Alfa Aesar)
S21 magnitude behaviour for the composites can be further confirmed by the analysis undertaken using the Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR) spectral analysis (Figure 8) which showed that the highest absorption was for the highest percentage ZnOPCL nanocomposites (70% ZnO nanofiller)
Summary
The organic-inorganic hybrid materials possess interesting functions through the amalgamation of the important properties from both components [1,2,3]. ZnO as one of the Advances in Materials Science and Engineering multifunctional inorganic particles has drawn increasing attention in recent years due to its many significant physical and chemical stabilities, high catalytic activity, effective antibacterial and bactericide function, and intensive ultraviolet and infrared absorption [9, 10]. For these reasons, it is selected to serve as filler in its nanoform in the polymer composites. On the basis of the above description, this paper will investigate the use of ZnO nanoparticles as filler in the oxide-polymer composites, processing methods, experimental work, and results and discussion on electromagnetic properties as it affects radiation attenuation
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