Excellent Electromagnetic Interference Shielding by Graphene‐ MnFe ₂ O ₄ ‐Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Hybrids at Very Low Weight Percentage in Polymer Matrix

Abstract

Abstract We report electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness of reduced graphene oxide‐manganese ferrite (RGO‐MnFe2O4) hybrids in presence of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as conductive filler in polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) matrix. MnFe2O4 nanoparticles and RGO‐MnFe2O4 hybrids were synthesized by a facile one‐step hydrothermal method and different PVDF/RGO‐MnFe2O4 composite films containing fixed amount of MWCNTs (3 wt%) were fabricated by solution blending. The samples were characterized by X‐ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron and atomic force microscopies and by thermal gravimetric analysis. Excellent absorption and a total EMI shielding (SET) of ca. −38dB at 18 GHz were noted for 5wt% RGO‐MnFe2O4. Interestingly, the storage modulus of this particular composite film showed 3 folds higher modulus as compared to control PVDF film. Our study establishes that simple and economical fabrication method of PVDF/RGO‐MnFe2O4/MWCNTs composite film at very low filler content has a great potential as microwave absorbing material.