Thermal and Electromagnetic Properties of Polymer Holey Structures Produced by Additive Manufacturing

Polymers (Basel). 2020 Dec 2;12(12):2892. doi: 10.3390/polym12122892.

Abstract

Multifunctional 3D-printed holey structures made of composite polymers loaded with nanocarbon were designed to serve simultaneously as GHz-radiation absorbing layers and heat conductors. The geometry of the structures was devised to allow heat to be easily transferred through, with special attention paid to thermal conductivity. Numerical calculations and a simple homogenization theory were conducted in parallel to address this property. Different structures have been considered and compared. The electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of the produced holey structures was measured in the microwave range.

Keywords: foam; microwave shielding; nanocomposite; thermal conductivity; truss lattice.