Reduced Graphene Oxide Functionalized Strontium Ferrite in Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) Conducting Network: A High-Performance EMI Shielding Material

The advent of nanotechnology leading to high-frequency device realization has resulted in a rapid increase in radiation pollution. The synthesis of core-shell morphology based poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT)/ reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanocomposites incorporated with SrFe12O19 nanoparticles via in situ emulsion polymerization is a step to control ever-increasing radiation pollution. For electromagnetic (EM) shielding, impedance matching, and absorption of EM wave being the two key parameters. RGO and PEDOT establish an interconnected conducting network inside the PEDOT matrix and the resulting conductive pathway provides better impedance matching for the incident radiation. The RGO sheets decorated with ferrite nanoparticles strengthen the mechanism of the shielding by absorbing incoming EM radiation. The synergic coupling of the magneto-dielectric characteristics of nanocomposites result in high electromagnetic shielding effectiveness (SE) of 42.29 dB at 12.4 GHz for 2.5 mm thick sample. The SE is mainly dominated by absorption and also measured as a function of thickness resulting in SE(max) value of 62 dB at a thickness of 4.66 mm. The present set of nanocomposites are found to exhibit attenuation of more than 99.999% and have the potential for commercial application in EM shielding.