Eco-Friendly Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Materials from Flexible Reduced Graphene Oxide Filled Polycaprolactone/Polyaniline Nanocomposites

ABSTRACT

Hybrid nanocomposites have the unique ability of enhancing material properties due to the existing synergistic effect of the fillers. In this study, the authors report such an eco-friendly hybrid nanocomposite comprising of polyaniline and reduced graphene oxide in polycaprolactone. The conducting polyaniline improved the processability of polycaprolactone, and the final composites were prepared by incorporating graphene oxide reduced at 200 and 600°C temperatures to the polycaprolactone–polyaniline blend. Polyaniline, polyaniline/reduced graphene oxide200, and polyaniline/reduced graphene oxide600 imparted good electrical conductivity to polycaprolactone, and the fabricated flexible polycaprolactone–polyaniline/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites exhibited good mechanical property, increased thermal stability, and excellent electromagnetic interference shielding up to 42 dB at 13 GHz.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Conducting composite
• graphene
• shielding effectiveness
• thermal stability

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Central Laboratory Unit at Qatar University for the SEM and FTIR measurements.