Hybrid composite mats composed of amorphous carbon, zinc oxide nanorods and nickel zinc ferrite for tunable electromagnetic interference shielding

Abstract With the rapid growth of electronics and telecommunication industries, electromagnetic pollution is a serious concern to be addressed because it not only affects the sensitivity and performance of the devices but also affects human's health. Here, we report lightweight hybrid composite mats, having porosity around 40%, composed of amorphous carbon, zinc oxide nanorods and nickel zinc ferrite for excellent electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding in the X-band (8.2–12.4 GHz). The vibrating sample magnetometer measurement confirmed that the saturation magnetization value (Ms) of the composite materials enhances with the weight percentage of zinc oxide nanorods-nickel zinc ferrite (ZNF) powder, which leads to enhanced magnetic loss of the electromagnetic waves. With the thickness of 1.0 mm, the total EMI shielding effectiveness of the amorphous carbon composite was measured to be 25.70 dB which was further enhanced to 53 dB by the incorporation of the ZNF powder. Such high increment is attributed to the enhanced magnetic properties, interfacial polarization and dielectric properties of the composite. The synergistic combination of the materials results in the high reflection coefficient and absorption coefficient of the composites which were measured to be ∼0.916 and ∼0.083, respectively. Thus, the composites can shield up to 99.999% power of the electromagnetic waves which is shared by the 8.394% reflection and 91.605% absorption. Moreover, the magnetic, electrical and EMI shielding properties of the composites can be tuned by controlling the amount of ZNF powder in composites. Hence, the composite mats can be suitable for applications in defense and telecommunication.