Composite materials for protection against electromagnetic microwave radiation

Abstract

A fairly wide range of carbon-polymer composite materials was synthesized and studied in terms of their potential to protect people and electronic equipment from exposure to electromagnetic radiation (EMR). The materials studied included three main groups: (1) PVC polymer composites filled with various carbon-containing fillers (colloidal graphite, thermally expanded graphite, acetylene black, graphitized carbon black, carbon nanotubes, graphene) at concentrations ranging from 5 to 20%; (2) carbon cloth - commercial and modified with nanometal additives (e.g., nanoparticles of Cu, TiN, etc.); (3) highly-filled polymer-carbon composites in the form of paint. The transmission rate a of electromagnetic radiation was investigated for such materials in the frequency range of 10 GHz as well as their electrical conductivity. The results showed that the shielding ability of the materials of group (2) is significantly higher than that of the materials of group (1), which is probably due to the presence of strong internal skeleton of conductivity. Nevertheless, some highly-filled mixed polymer-carbon composites in the form of paint demonstrate even more shielding ability than carbon cloth and could be used for the defense against EMR.