EMI shielding properties of laminated graphene and PbTiO3 reinforced poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) nanocomposites

In this paper, PEDOT/reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/PbTiO3 nanocomposites have been synthesized using facile insitu chemical oxidative polymerization method. The synthesis method leads to the formation of core shell structured nanocomposites containing PbTiO3 as primary filler and RGO as secondary filler in PEDOT matrix. The core-shell morphology of the composites has been confirmed using transmission electron microscope with average particle size 20-30 nm observed for PbTiO3. The incorporation of RGO and PbTiO3 in the PEDOT matrix has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction. A systematic study on electromagnetic shielding properties and the effect of PbTiO3 concentration on different properties has been carried out. The ferro-electric PbTiO3 with RGO induced dielectric loss in the composites, whereas, PEDOT establish a conducting network over RGO layer and PbTiO3 nanoparticles that improve electromagnetic shielding properties by increasing the dielectric loss. As a result, an enhanced electromagnetic shielding effectiveness value of 51.94 dB (> 99.999% attenuation) has been achieved in 12.4-18 GHz frequency range. The nanocomposites were further characterized using Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy and thermal gravimetric analysis.