Mechanical, thermal and EMI shielding study of electrically conductive polymeric hybrid nano-composites

Polymer blends of polyaniline (PANI) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were fabricated using thermally reduced graphene oxide (TRGO) as nano-level reinforcement to enhance the electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness. The initial assessment of polymer blends of PVC and PANI and hybrid nanocomposites of PVC, PANI and TRGO were done with cyclic voltammetry and the results showed improved electrical conductivity of 1.0 x 10(-15) S/cm, 1.5 x 10(-6) S/cm and 4.2 x 10(-5) S/cm respectively. The capacitive effect of this blend and hybrid nanocomposites were evaluated as an initial assessment at frequency region (100 Hz-5 MHz). EMI-shielding effectiveness of PVC, PVC/PANI blend and PVC/PANI/TRGO hybrid nanocomposites were measured in the microwave frequency region of 11-20 GHz. Almost 29 dB shielding effectiveness was observed in case of PVC-PANI blend. The shielding effectiveness was enhanced to similar to 56 dB as 5 wt% of TRGO was added. The dispersion state, interaction of filler with the polymer matrix and the nature of fillers are the main reasons to the enhance EMI shielding of these hybrid nanocomposites.