Fuente: Polymers Polymers, Vol. 18, Pages 789: Enhanced Absorption Dominated Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Enabled by Carbon Nanotube and Graphene Reinforced Electrospun PVDF Nanocomposite
Polymers doi: 10.3390/polym18070789
Authors:
Hisham Bamufleh
Usman Saeed
Abdulrahim Alzahrani
Aqeel Ahmad Taimoor
Sami-ullah Rather
Hesham Alhumade
Walid M. Alalayah
Hamad AlTuraif

The increasing density of wireless and wearable electronic devices necessitates the development of lightweight, flexible, and absorption-dominated electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials. In this study, electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) composite mats reinforced with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene nanosheets at low filler loadings (1–3 wt.%) were fabricated and systematically investigated for X-band (8.0–12.5 GHz) EMI shielding performance. Raman, FTIR, and thermal analyses confirm enhanced electroactive β-phase formation and improved thermal stability upon nanofiller incorporation. The formation of interconnected conductive networks within the electrospun fibrous architecture leads to a significant increase in electrical conductivity from 10−7 S·cm−1 for pure PVDF to 10−2 S·cm−1 and 10−1 S·cm−1 for CNT/PVDF and Graphene/PVDF composites, respectively, at 3 wt.% loading. Consequently, the total EMI shielding effectiveness (SET) increases from 2.5 dB for pure PVDF to 40 dB for CNT/PVDF and 42 dB for graphene/PVDF composites at 3 wt.%. The shielding effectiveness arising from absorption (SEA) dominates the overall EMI shielding performance, contributing more than 85% of the total shielding effectiveness (SET), which clearly indicates an absorption-controlled shielding mechanism. The combination of high absorption-dominated EMI shielding, low filler content, and mechanical flexibility highlights these electrospun CNT/PVDF and graphene/PVDF composites as promising candidates for next-generation flexible, wearable, and biomedical EMI shielding applications.