Tailor-Made Distribution of Nanoparticles in Blend Structure toward Outstanding Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

Biswas, Sourav and Kar, Goutam Prasanna and Bose, Suryasarathi (2015) Tailor-Made Distribution of Nanoparticles in Blend Structure toward Outstanding Electromagnetic Interference Shielding. In: ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES, 7 (45). pp. 25448-25463.

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Abstract

Engineering blend structure with tailor-made distribution of nanoparticles is the prime requisite to obtain materials with extraordinary properties. Herein, a unique strategy of distributing nanoparticles in different phases of a blend structure has resulted in >99% blocking of incoming electromagnetic (EM) radiation. This is accomplished by designing a ternary polymer blend structure using polycarbonate (PC), poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) to simultaneously improve the structural, electrical, and electromagnetic interference shielding (EMI). The blend structure was made conducting by preferentially localizing the multi-wall nanotubes (MWNTs) in the PVDF phase. By taking advantage of pp stacking MWNTs was noncovalently modified with an imidazolium based ionic liquid (IL). Interestingly, the enhanced dispersion of IL-MWNTs in PVDF improved the electrical conductivity of the blends significantly. While one key requisite to attenuate EM radiation (i.e., electrical conductivity) was achieved using MWNTs, the magnetic properties of the blend structure was tuned by introducing barium ferrite (BaFe) nanoparticles, which can interact with the incoming EM radiation. By suitably modifying the surface of BaFe nanoparticles, we can tailor their localization under the macroscopic processing condition. The precise localization of BaFe nanoparticles in the PC phase, due to nucleophilic substitution reaction, and the MWNTs in the PVDF phase not only improved the conductivity but also facilitated in absorption of the incoming microwave radiation due to synergetic effect from MWNT and BaFe. The shielding effectiveness (SE) was measured in X and K-u band, and an enhanced SE of -37 dB was noted at 18 GHz frequency. PMMA, which acted as an interfacial modifier in PC/PVDF blends further, resulting in a significant enhancement in the mechanical properties besides retaining high SE. This study opens a new avenue in designing mechanically strong microwave absorbers with a suitable combination of materials.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
Publisher:	AMER CHEMICAL SOC
Additional Information:	Copy right for this article belongs to the AMER CHEMICAL SOC, 1155 16TH ST, NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20036 USA
Keywords:	co-continuous polymer blends; MWNT; Ionic liquids; BaFe; mechanical properties; rheology; AC electrical conductivity; EMI shielding
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Materials Engineering (formerly Metallurgy)
Date Deposited:	30 Dec 2015 06:03
Last Modified:	30 Dec 2015 06:03
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/52941

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