Electromagnetic shielding efficiency in Ka-band: carbon foam versus epoxy/carbon nanotube composites

2012

The wide application of microwaves stimulates searching for new materials with high electrical conductivity and electromagnetic (EM) interference shielding effectiveness (SE). We conducted a comparative study of EM SE in K a -band demonstrated by ultra-light micro-structural porous carbon solids (carbon foams) of different bulk densities, 0.042 to 0.150  g/cm 3 , and conventional flexible epoxy resin filled with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in small concentrations, 1.5 wt.%. Microwave probing of carbon foams showed that the transmission through a 2 mm-thick layer strongly decreases with decreasing the pore size up to the level of 0.6%, due to a rise of reflectance ability. At the same time, 1 mm…