Electromagnetic interference shielding characteristics of carbon nanofiber-polymer composites.

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding characteristics of carbon nanofiber-polystyrene composites were investigated in the frequency range of 12.4-18 GHz (Ku-band). It was observed that the shielding effectiveness of such composites was frequency independent, and increased with increasing carbon nanofiber loading within Ku-band. The experimental data exhibited that the shielding effectiveness of the polymer composite containing 20 wt% carbon nanofibers could reach more than 36 dB in the measured frequency region, indicating such composites can be applied to the potential EMI shielding materials. In addition, the results showed that the contribution of reflection to the EMI shielding effectiveness was much larger than that of absorption, implying the primary EMI shielding mechanism of such composites was reflection of electromagnetic radiation within Ku-band.