EMI Shielding Effectiveness of Carbon Nanofiber Filled Poly(vinyl alcohol) Coating Materials

Abstract

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding on plastic mostly consists of conductive fibers in a polymer matrix. This study describes a route for the fabrication of carbon nanofiber filled poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) coating materials. Electrical conductivity of the coating materials ranged from 0.033 to 0.169 S/cm depending on the carbon nanofiber fillers produced from different catalyst compositions and gas types. At the frequency of 850 MHz, the shielding effectiveness of coating materials filled with carbon nanofibers was 0.5–1.6 dB, and the values were improved into 1.6–4.8 dB as the carbon nanofibers were treated at 1 100°C for 1 h.