A transparent electromagnetic-shielding film based on one-dimensional metal–dielectric periodic structures

In this study, we designed and fabricated optical materials consisting of alternating ITO and Ag layers. This approach is considered to be a promising way to obtain a light-weight, ultrathin and transparent shielding medium, which not only transmits visible light but also inhibits the transmission of microwaves, despite the fact that the total thickness of the Ag film is much larger than the skin depth in the visible range and less than that in the microwave region. Theoretical results suggest that a high dielectric/metal thickness ratio can enhance the broadband and improve the transmittance in the optical range. Accordingly, the central wavelength was found to be red-shifted with increasing dielectric/metal thickness ratio. A physical mechanism behind the controlling transmission of visible light is also proposed. Meanwhile, the electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of the prepared structures was found to exceed 40 dB in the range from 0.1 GHz to 18 GHz, even reaching up to 70 dB at 0.1 GHz, which is far higher than that of a single ITO film of the same thickness.

Achieving Excellent Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Effectiveness in High Rare Earth Mg-12Gd-3Y alloy via Nd Addition Combined with Hot Rolling and Aging

Achieving excellent electromagnetic interference(EMI)shielding effectiveness(SE)in high rare earth(RE)-content Mg alloys is currently a significant technical challenge.This work systematically investigated the effects of different Nd elements on the electrical conductivity and EMI SE of Mg-12Gd-3Y-xNd alloy by adding Nd elements to the high RE content Mg-12Gd-3Y alloy,followed by a combined process of hot rolling and aging(R-A).The results indicate that the addition of Nd elements leads to reduced solid solubility of Gd and Y,resulting in a large amount of precipitation.The Mg-12Gd-3Y-2.0Nd alloy has the optimum EMI SE after 63%R-A treatment,reaching 88-118 dB at 30-1500 MHz.The Mg-12Gd-3Y-xNd alloy has acicular and granular forms of the Mg5(Gd,Y,Nd)(abbreviated as Mg5RE)phase after R-A treatment.The granular Mg5RE phase gradually breaks up and refines into more minor scales with increasing rolling reduction and is diffusely distributed in the matrix.The acicular Mg5RE phase is densely arranged,with cross-distribution in some areas.The cross-distributed acicular Mg5RE phase,the delicate granular Mg5RE phase,and the denseβ′phase provide more interfaces for reflecting electromagnetic waves and increase the multiple reflection loss of incident electromagnetic waves.In addition,the Mg-12Gd-3Y-xNd alloy deflects most of the c-axis of the grains parallel to the normal direction(ND)as the rolling reduction increases,making the impedance difference between the plate surface and air larger.The increased impedance makes the material reflect more loss to incident electromagnetic waves.The combined use of these two leads to an excellent EMI SE of Mg-12Gd-3Y-xNd with high RE content after R-A treatment.

Effect of heat treatment temperature on microstructure and electromagnetic shielding properties of graphene/SiBCN composites

Three-dimensional(3D) graphene/SiBCN composites(GF/SiBCN) were prepared by depositing SiBCN ceramics in 3D graphene foam via the chemical vapor infiltration technique. The effect of the heat treatment temperature on the microstructure, phase composition, and electromagnetic properties of the GF/SiBCN composite was investigated. The SiBCN ceramics maintained an amorphous structure in the composite below 1400℃ above which the crystallinity of the free carbon phase gradually increased.While the Si3N4 and B4C phases started to crystallize at 1500℃ and their crystallinity increased with temperature, SiC was observed at 1700℃. The electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of GF/SiBCN increased with the heat treatment temperature.

EMI shielding effectiveness of silver nanoparticle-decorated multi-walled carbon nanotube sheets

With the aim of exploring the excellent properties of multi-walled carbon nanotubes(MWNTs)in modern composite technologies,various macrostructures of nanotubes have been developed from one to three dimensions,e.g.fibers,networks,sheets(buckypapers)and pellets.The MWNT sheets discussed here were fabricated by a vacuum filtration procedure,a process that has potential for large-scale manufacturing.In order to further enhance the transport properties of MWNT sheets by reducing the contact resistance between nanotubes,highly conductive silver nanoparticles were introduced by an in situ photochemical reduction method.TEM analysis showed that highly acid-treated MWNTs dispersed in the presence of Triton X-100(TX-100)under UV light was a controllable processing method for preparation of a narrow size distribution of silver nanoparticles that were anchored onto the nanotubes.The free-standing MWNT/Ag nanohybrid sheets possessed a sharp increase in electrical conductivity from 27.7 to 40.0 S/cm,which consequently led to a much improved electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness(SE).In principle,the SE could reach 3500 dB/cm with a thickness of 110µm,which matched the experimental results well.In addition,the nanohybrid sheets are robust and can be folded with a thickness of 30µm,which opens a promising way to integrate MWNT sheets into conventional composite laminates.

Dielectric,Electromagnetic Interference Shielding and Absorption Properties of Si_3N_4-PyC Composite Ceramics

Pyrolytic carbon （PyC） was infiltrated into silicon nitride （Si3N4） ceramics by precursor infiltration and pyrolysis （PIP） of phenolic resin, and Ni nanoparticles were added into the phenolic resin to change the electric conductivity of Si3N4-PyC composite ceramics. Dielectric permittivity, electromagnetic interference （EMI） shielding and absorption properties of Si3N4-PyC composite ceramics were studied as a function of Ni content at 8.2-12.4 GHz （X-band）. When Ni nanoparticles were added into phenolic resin, the electric conductivity of the prepared composite ceramics decreased with increasing Ni content, which was attributed to the decrease of graphitization degree of PyC. The decrease in electric conductivity led to the decrease in both permittivity and EMI shielding effectiveness. Since too high permittivity is harmful to the impendence match and results in the strong reflection, the electromagnetic wave absorption property of Si3N4-PyC composite ceramics increases with increasing Ni content. When the content of Ni nanoparticles added into phenolic resin was 2 wt%, the composite ceramics possessed the lowest electric conductivity and displayed the most excellent absorption property with a minimum reflection loss as low as -28.9 dB.