Electromagnetic interference shielding characteristics and shielding effectiveness of polyaniline-coated films

The study aims to investigate the electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding characteristics and shielding effectiveness (SE) of polyaniline (PANI)-coated films. Free-standing films of emeraldine salt were obtained by PANI-emeraldine base with dode-cylbenzensulfonic acid on a polyethylene terephthalate film. The four-point probe method was employed to measure the electrical resistivity for investigating the electromagnetic characteristics of PANI-coated films. In addition, the SE of the PANI-coated films was measured in two different ways: a flanged coaxial shielding effectiveness test and a shielding effectiveness on the testbed having a box-type chamber equipped with instruments for electromagnetic shielding testing under real conditions. The overall SE measured from experiments was also compared with the approximate SE value calculated from a theoretical method. The present study has shown the possibility of utilizing PANI-coated films as EMI shielding/absorption materials. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.