Graphene Epoxy-Based Composites as Efficient Electromagnetic Absorbers in the Extremely High-Frequency Band

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2020 Jun 24;12(25):28635-28644. doi: 10.1021/acsami.0c06729. Epub 2020 Jun 11.

Abstract

We report on the synthesis of the epoxy-based composites with graphene fillers and test their electromagnetic shielding efficiency by the quasi-optic free-space method in the extremely high-frequency (EHF) band (220-325 GHz). The curing adhesive composites were produced by a scalable technique with a mixture of single-layer and few-layer graphene layers of few-micrometer lateral dimensions. It was found that the electromagnetic transmission, T, is low even at small concentrations of graphene fillers: T<1% at a frequency of 300 GHz for a composite with only ϕ = 1 wt% graphene. The main shielding mechanism in composites with the low graphene loading is absorption. The composites of 1 mm in thickness and a graphene loading of 8 wt% provide an excellent electromagnetic shielding of 70 dB in the sub-terahertz EHF frequency band with negligible energy reflection to the environment. The developed lightweight adhesive composites with graphene fillers can be used as electromagnetic absorbers in the high-frequency microwave radio relays, microwave remote sensors, millimeter wave scanners, and wireless local area networks.

Keywords: electrical percolation; electromagnetic absorbers; electromagnetic shielding; extremely high-frequency band; graphene; sub-THz frequency.