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Synergistic effect of conducting and insulating fillers in polymer nanocomposite films for attenuation of X-band

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Abstract

Nanocomposite films comprising of ion-conducting polymer electrolyte, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) as the electron-conducting network and ceramic (BaTiO3) as ferroelectric nanofiller have been synthesised for electromagnetic shielding application. XRD and dielectric studies of the synthesised BaTiO3 nanoparticles show a tetragonal structure and ferroelectric nature. The incorporation of nanofillers (MWCNT and BaTiO3) in the polymer electrolyte enhances the conductivity and dielectric property of the nanocomposites. Polymer nanocomposites with 7.5 wt% of BaTiO3 nanoparticles have exhibited the highest shielding effectiveness (SET) ~ 81 dB in the X-band (8–12 GHz). This enhancement in SE can be attributed to the (1) formation of micro-capacitors and interconnected network provided by MWCNTs, (2) spontaneous polarisation of BaTiO3 and its volumetric effect on the polymer nanocomposites and (3) leakage current due to the ions of the electrolyte which results in dielectric loss.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Prof. S. A. Hashmi and Prof. S. Murugavel, University of Delhi, for, respectively, providing transport number and furnace facility. We also gratefully acknowledge the financial support by the University of Delhi, India, through the R&D Grant and USIC, University of Delhi, for providing instrumentation facility. One of the authors (MKV) is grateful to the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, for providing a Senior Research Fellowship.

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  1. Department of Physics and Astrophysics, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India

    Manoj Kumar Vyas & Amita Chandra

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Vyas, M.K., Chandra, A. Synergistic effect of conducting and insulating fillers in polymer nanocomposite films for attenuation of X-band. J Mater Sci 54, 1304–1325 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-018-2894-z

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