Designing of epoxy composites reinforced with carbon nanotubes grown carbon fiber fabric for improved electromagnetic interference shielding

In this letter, we report preparation of strongly anchored multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) carbon fiber (CF) fabric preforms. These preforms were reinforced in epoxy resin to make multi scale composites for microwave absorption in the X-band (8.2-12.4GHz). The incorporation of MWCNTs on the carbon fabric produced a significant enhancement in the electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI-SE) from -29.4 dB for CF/epoxy-composite to -51.1 dB for CF-MWCNT/epoxy multiscale composites of 2 mm thickness. In addition to enhanced EMI-SE, interlaminar shear strength improved from 23 MPa for CF/epoxy-composites to 50 MPa for multiscale composites indicating their usefulness for making structurally strong microwave shields. Copyright 2012 Author(s). This article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4730043]