P. Kuzhir

Flexible transparent graphene/polymer multilayers for efficient electromagnetic field absorption

Thanks to its high electrical conductivity, a graphene plane presents a good shielding efficiency against GHz electromagnetic radiations. Several graphene planes separated by thin polymer spacers add their conductivities arithmetically, because each of them conserves the intrinsic properties of isolated graphene. Maximum absorption of radiations for frequency around 30 GHz is achieved with six separated graphene planes, which is the optimum number. This remarkable result is demonstrated experimentally from electromagnetic measurements performed in the Ka band on a series of multilayers obtained by piling 1, 2, 3 … graphene/PMMA units on a silica substrate. Theoretical calculations convincingly explain the observed absorption and transmission data in the GHz domain. It is concluded that graphene/PMMA multilayers can be used as an efficient optically transparent and flexible shielding media.

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

Abstract. 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 Ka-band demonstrated by ultra-light micro-structural porous carbon solids (carbon foams) of different bulk densities, 0.042 to 0.150  g/cm3, 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 thick epoxy/CNT composites showed EM attenuation on the level of only 66% to 37%. Calculating the high-frequency axial CNTs’ polarizability on the basis of the idea of using CNT as transmission lines, we devised a strategy to improve the EM SE of CNT-based composites: because of the high EM screening of inner shells of multi-walled CNTs in the GHz range, it is effective to use either single-walled CNT or multi-walled CNTs with a relatively small number of walls (up to 15, i.e., those taking part in the EM interaction, if the CNT length is 20 μm).

Epoxy composites filled with high surface area-carbon fillers: Optimization of electromagnetic shielding, electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties

A comprehensive analysis of electrical, electromagnetic (EM), mechanical, and thermal properties of epoxy resin composites filled with 0.25–2.0 wt. % of carbon additives characterized by high surface area, both nano-sized, like carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and carbon black (CBH), and micro-sized exfoliated graphite (EG), was performed. We found that the physical properties of both CNTs- and CBH-based epoxy resin composites increased all together with filler content and even more clearly for CBH than for CNTs. In the case of EG-based composites, good correlation between properties and filler amount was observed for concentrations below 1.5 wt. %. We conclude that CBH and, to a lower extent, EG could replace expensive CNTs for producing effective EM materials in microwave and low-frequency ranges, which are, in addition, mechanically and thermally stable.

Anisotropic electromagnetic properties of polymer composites containing oriented multiwall carbon nanotubes in respect to terahertz polarizer applications

Polystyrene composites with 0.5 wt. % loading of oriented multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) have been produced by forge rolling method. The composites showed anisotropy of transmission and reflection of terahertz radiation depending on sample orientation relative to the polarization of electromagnetic wave. The structural characteristics of composites (nanotube ordering, length, defectiveness) were estimated by fitting the theoretical dependencies calculated within the Clausius-Mossotti formalism for cylindrical particles to the experimental data. The presented model was used for prediction of electromagnetic response of composites containing oriented MWCNTs with various structural parameters in THz region.

Effect of nitrogen doping on the electromagnetic properties of carbon nanotube-based composites

Nitrogen-doped and pure carbon nanotube (CNT) based composites were fabricated for investigating their dielectric properties in static regime as well as electromagnetic response properties in microwave frequency range (Ka-band). Two classes of host matrix—polystyrene and phosphate unfired ceramics—have been used for composites fabrication. The study reveals miscellaneous effect of nitrogen doping on the dielectric permittivity, dc conductivity and electromagnetic interference shielding efficiency of CNT-based composites, produced with both polymer and ceramic matrices. The high-frequency polarizability, estimated for different-length CNTs, and static polarizability, calculated for nitrogen-containing CNT models using a quantum-chemical approach, show that this effect results from a decrease of the nanotube defect-free-length and deterioration of the polarizability with incorporation of nitrogen in pyridinic form.

Carbon Onion Composites for EMC Applications

A novel lightweight onion-like carbon (OLC)-based polymer composite with high electromagnetic (EM) shielding properties is presented. OLC have been produced via the large-scale production technology based on the annealing of detonation nanodiamond under vacuum conditions (or in inert atmosphere). EM shielding effectiveness has been tested in the frequency range of 26-37 GHz. The highest EM attenuation at 36.6 GHz reaching -34 dB was observed for polymethylmethacrylate films comprising 20 wt.% of OLC. The shielding effectiveness data collected for microwave frequencies were found to correlate well with the electrical resistivity measurements by four-probe method as well as conductivity measurements provided by the broadband dielectric spectroscopy (20 Hz-3 GHz). It was proved experimentally that OLC EM shielding capacity can be optimized by varying the nanoonion cluster size and nanodiamond annealing temperature so that effective EM coatings can be produced. Both the experimental observations and theoretical simulations demonstrate that even small (smaller than percolation threshold) additions of OLC particles to a polymer host can noticeably modify the composite response to EM radiation.

Terahertz processes in carbon nanotubes

We investigated several proposals utilizing the unique electronic properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for a broad range of applications to THz optoelectronics, including THz generation by Cerenkov-type emitters based on carbon nanotubes and by hot electrons in quasimetallic nanotubes, frequency multiplication in chiral-nanotube-based superlattices controlled by a transverse electric field, and THz radiation detection and emission by armchair nanotubes in a strong magnetic field. Dispersion equations of the electron beam instability and the threshold conditions of the stimulated emission have been derived and analyzed, demonstrating realizability of the nanotube-based nanoFEL at realistic parameters of nanotubes and electronic beams.

Enhanced microwave shielding effectiveness of ultrathin pyrolytic carbon films

Electromagnetic properties of pyrolytic carbon (PyC) films with thickness from 5 to 241 nm are studied experimentally and numerically at 28 GHz. We observe experimentally that PyC films are capable to absorb up to 50% of microwave power in the Ka-band. By using boundary conditions in the rectangular waveguide, we demonstrate theoretically that 50% of microwave power can be absorbed in a conductive film with thickness much smaller than the skin depth. The results of modelling for PyC films on silica substrate are in excellent coincidence with the experimental data.

Enhanced microwave-to-terahertz absorption in graphene

Fresnel equations predict that an ultrathin free standing conductive film, thousands times thinner than skin depth, is capable to absorb up to 50% of incident electromagnetic radiations. In the microwave range, the same holds true for a free standing graphene sheet. We demonstrate theoretically and prove experimentally that microwave absorptance of graphene can be enhanced considerably by depositing graphene on a dielectric substrate. On the experimental side, we obtain 80% and 65% absorptance at 30 GHz and 1 THz, respectively. Theory predicts that higher absorptance can be achieved with a suitable choice of the dielectric permittivity and the thickness of the substrate. Absorption can also be maximized by choosing the optimum incidence angle for s-polarized waves in free space or by working in the vicinity of the cut-off frequency of the transverse electric mode in waveguide configuration. The polarization sensitivity of the transmittance and reflectance of graphene layers can be used to tune the polariz...

Characterizing epoxy composites filled with carbonaceous nanoparticles from dc to microwave

We have used several methods to measure the effective complex permittivity of epoxy composites filled with carbonaceous (carbon black, single-walled carbon nanotube, and multi-walled carbon nanotube) over nine decades of frequency. The composite samples were fabricated by shear mixing. The spectral analysis of permittivity of these nanocomposites is in good agreement with Jonschers modelling. We point out, taking these examples, that the experimental frequency dependence of the effective permittivity has a range of interesting properties. The likely transport mechanisms responsible for the dielectric relaxation in these samples can be modelled by the dipolar relaxation and anomalous low-frequency dispersion below and above percolation, respectively.