A mechanistic study on electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of polysulfone/carbon nanofibers nanocomposites

The present study aims to produce a light weight electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding material from carbon nanofibers (CNFs)-based polysulfone (PSU) nanocomposites. EMI shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) was studied by analyzing the electromagnetic wave transmission, reflection, and absorption characteristics of nanocomposites. The electrical conductivity and EMI SE of the nanocomposite with different weight percentage of CNFs (3–10 wt%) were investigated at room temperature and the measurement of EMI SE was carried out in a frequency range of 8.2–12.4 GHz (X-band). The mechanism of EMI shielding of PSU/CNFs nanocomposite has been well explained by comparing the contribution of reflection and absorption to the total EMI SE. The state of dispersion of CNFs and PSU–CNFs interaction was studied by high resolution transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The thermal stability of nanocomposite studied from thermogravimetric analysis was increased after addition of CNFs to PSU matrix. Electrical conductivity of nanocomposite followed power law model of percolation theory having a percolation threshold Φ_c = 0.0079 vol% (0.9 wt%) and exponent t = 1.73. The EMI SE of nanocomposites with thickness of 1 mm was 19–45 decibel (dB) at 3–10 wt% CNFs loading. This high thermal stability and high EMI SE suggest the potential use of PSU/CNFs nanocomposite as effective lightweight EMI shielding material in different electronic applications.