Morphology and electromagnetic interference shielding effects of SiC coated carbon short fibers

The electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of C–SiC/epoxy composites was investigated and compared with that of carbon fiber/epoxy composites. C–SiCs, short fibers with carbon cores and silicon carbide shells, were fabricated by a carbothermal reduction process using chopped carbon fibers (CFs) and rice husk ash. After presenting the morphology and structure of the C–SiC fibers, the electromagnetic interference shielding effect of SiC coated carbon short fibers is discussed. The Kα-band (26.5–40.0 GHz) shielding studies revealed that the maximum total shielding effectiveness (SET) of the composite with 25 vol% of C–SiCs is 17.07 dB, dominated by absorption, while the composite with 25 vol% of the same sized carbon fibers has a SET of 8.44 dB only.