Investigation on pitch derived mesocarbon spheres based metal composites for highly efficient electromagnetic interference shielding

Abstract In the present investigation, pitch derived mesocarbon spheres (MCS) with nickel nanoparticles based nanocomposites have been developed and first time reported as an excellent electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding material in X-band (8.2–12.4 GHz) frequency region. A simple and economical method has been used for the synthesis of MCS from heat treatment of coal tar pitch and petroleum pitch. As synthesized MCS powder was semi-graphitized at 1400 °C, it is called graphitized mesocarbon spheres (GMCS) followed by chemical treatment to form expanded mesocarbon spheres (EMCS). Ni nanoparticles were synthesized in-situ using above three materials (MCS, GMCS and EMCS) to form MCS-Ni, GMCS-Ni and EMCS-Ni composite. The investigation revealed that EMCS-Ni composite exhibit excellent absorption dominated EMI shielding effectiveness (SE A ) of −72.3 dB (∼400% increment in absorption) with a total SE (SE T ) of −81.5 dB at 8.2 GHz which is remarkably high as compared to other reported values in literature.