PVDF based electrospun composite material for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding application

ABSTRACT

W type Barium hexaferrite (BaCo₂Fe₁₆O₂₇) was synthesized using oxalate precursor-based sol-gel auto-combustion method and was analyzed by SEM, EDS, and XRD for phase confirmation. Further M-H hysteresis loop and ZFC-FC curve were recorded using VSM to investigate magnetic properties. Using the wet chemical method, a hybrid Compound of BaCo₂Fe₁₆O₂₇ /RGO was prepared by maintaining a ferrite-to-GO ratio to (m(RGO):m(HF) = 7:100). As synthesized hybrid compound was dispersed in PVDF to fabricate the electrospun thin films with different concentrations (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%) of BaCo₂Fe₁₆O₂₇ /RGO. These electrospun films were tested on VNA for EMI shielding properties. The film shows an absorption dominant shielding nature with the highest value of SE ~ 3.52 dB @ 8.47 GHz with a film thickness t = 0.9 mm. Thus, this lightweight and flexible film can be used for shielding applications.

KEYWORDS:

• Hexaferrites
• polymer composite
• electrospinning
• EMI shielding

Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to Dr. CP Ramanarayanan, Vice-Chancellor of (DU), Pune, for the motivation and support. The authors are thankful to all anonymous reviewers and the editor for improving the quality of the revised manuscript by their valuable comments and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

The author(s) have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Vishal Prajapati

Mr. Vishal G. Prajapati is a graduate student with degree of Bachelor’s of Technology in Mechanical Engineering from Institute of Infrastructure Technology Research and Management, (An Autonomous University, Established by Government of Gujarat), Ahmedabad, India. Currently, pursuing a Master’s of Technology in Materials Science and Technology at Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Pune, India. His major research interests involve the study of fabrication of polymer composite films for EMI shielding applications and other various applications. Apart from this, he has also extended his interest in the study of the magnetic nanoparticle’s synthesis and characterization, electrospun nanocomposites and EMI shielding materials. During his Bachelor’s thesis, he has worked in the field of computational heat transfer, with the title of “Estimation of boundary heat flux considering transient heat conduction using a Conjugate Gradient Method with Adjoint Problem”. During his Master’s thesis, his work focuses on the fabrication of electrospun composite film with the title of “PVDF based electrospun composite material for electromagnetic shielding (EMI) shielding application”.

Kaumudi Yadav

Miss. Kaumudi Yadav is currently pursuing her Ph.D in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Department from Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Pune, India. Her area of research interest is magnetic composite material for multifunctional application such as EMI Shielding, Photocatalyst, and Supercapacitors.

Asutosh C. Abhyankar

(Late) Dr. Ashutosh C. Abhyankar was associate Professor at the Department of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering, DIAT (DU), Ministry of Defence, India. (Late) Dr. Ashutosh C. Abhyankar is highly acclaimed for his contribution towards Active materials such as ferromagnetic shape memory alloys, thermoelectric materials and spintronic materials, magneto-caloric effect, Disorder effects in magnetic materials, physics at the nanometer length scales; magnetic nanoparticles and thin films, exchange coupled nanocomposite hard magnetic materials and heavy Fermion systems, itinerant magnetism, non-Fermi liquid behavior, magnetic phase transition and critical phenomena. (Late) Dr. Ashutosh C. Abhyankar had research expertise on Magnetic, electric and magneto-transport measurements using VSM, PPMS, SQUID, X-ray and Neutron diffraction and Rietveld analysis using FULLPROOF/ X pert software.

Balasubramanian Kandasubramanian

Prof. (Dr.) Balasubramanian Kandasubramanian is Dean (Academics), and Professor at the Department of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering, DIAT (DU), Ministry of Defence, India. Prof. (Dr.) Balasubramanian is highly acclaimed for his contribution towards polymer processing and fabrication for various applications, which include development of antibacterial textiles, smart textiles, hydrophobic coatings, ablative materials, fire retardant fabrics, waste-water treatments and polymeric nano-composites for Defence applications. Prof. (Dr.) Balasubramanian was actively involved in the development of various research laboratories like Polymer Processing Lab, Nano Texturing Laboratory, Advanced Characterization Labs (Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope, High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscope, Small Angle X-Ray Scattering Lab), Additive Manufacturing Laboratory, etc. The research activity of Prof. (Dr.) Balasubramanian’s research group can be classified under five categories i.e. water management, smart textiles, biomimicking of the nature in the polymers, structural composites, advanced coatings for Defence applications. Prof. Balasubramanian has been recognized by Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) for being the one of the most cited author of the year (2015) for his erudite work on super-hydrophobicity. He has been recently awarded with the prestigious award of “Technology Innovation in Petrochemicals and Downstream Plastic Processing Industry” from Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India for his contribution in Waste/Water management and Design of Advanced Coatings. In last five years, he has developed various technologies and secured them in the form of patents and published in international peer reviewed journals and international conferences.