Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Properties of BaCo2Fe16O27 Nanoplatelets and RGO Reinforced PVDF Polymer Composite Flexible Films

The electromagnetic Interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness of W-Type barium hexaferrite (BaCo2Fe16O27) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanofillers reinforced poly(vinylidenefluoride) (PVDF) polymer composite films are reported. Two different amounts of BaCo2Fe16O27 (10 wt% and 30 wt%) nanofillers and fixed amount of RGO (10 wt%) are loaded in PVDF matrix by solvent casting in order to fabricate the multifunctional PVDF/RGO/BaCo2Fe16O27 composite films. The synthesized samples are investigated using various instruments including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) analysis. The microwave properties of PVDF/RGO/BaCo2Fe16O27 composites are tested with vector network analyser (VNA) in 8-12 GHz frequency (X-Band). The possible mechanism of EMI shielding is investigated from the analysis of complex permittivity and permeability.The resultant flexible films exhibit desirable EMI SE of 35.94 dB at 11.8 GHz for the 10 wt% of BaCo2Fe16O27 addition in PVDF composite for a very small thickness of 0.2 mm. The combination of high dielectric loss ( tan delta(epsilon) = 1.63) and magnetic loss (tan delta(mu) = 0.26) contributes to high absorption of 29.85 dB (>99% attenuation) dominated over reflection. Thus, the simple and cost-effective fabrication of ultrathin and flexible PVDF/RGO/BaCo2Fe16O27 composite film with low filler content has a great potential as suppresser in electromagnetic fields.

Automated summary

This study reports the EMI shielding effectiveness of W-Type barium hexaferrite and reduced graphene oxide nanofillers reinforced PVDF polymer composite films. By analyzing the microwave properties and complex permittivity/permeability of the composite films, it was found that the PVDF composite with 10 wt% of BaCo2Fe16O27 addition exhibited desirable EMI shielding performance even at a thickness of 0.2mm.