Shielding Effectiveness of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Electronics with Graphene-Based Absorber

Abstract

Within this study, we explored the augmented security measures for the electronics of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) within an RF environment. UAVs are commonly utilised across various sectors, and their use as auxiliary platforms for cellular networks, as parallel networks working in tandem with ground-based base stations, holds considerable promise. In this context, ensuring the uninterrupted operation of UAVs is a paramount objective. However, the considerable external electromagnetic interference emitted by existing base stations may jeopardise the functionality of UAV electronics. This could potentially lead to an unintended flight path and a sudden cessation of communication with the operator. To mitigate the detrimental impact of the RF field, we advocate covering the UAV casing with reduced graphene oxide (RGO). The efficacy of RGO’s shielding effectiveness (SE) was investigated over a frequency spectrum from 100 MHz to 10 GHz. Our scrutiny of this property was centred around the measurement of scattering matrix coefficients of the unadulterated material—without additives of any kind. Our findings show that this material is a favourable candidate for UAV absorbers due to its low reflection coefficient coupled with its high absorption capacity. The studied absorber ensures an SE value of 25 dB and 30 dB for a 3 mm layer at frequencies of 3.6 GHz (pertaining to the 5G system) and 5.8 GHz (pertaining to LTE), respectively.