Effect of shear mixing rate on EMI shielding, thermal and mechanical properties of SCF-loaded MWCNT/epoxy nanocomposite
摘要
The present study aims to understand the influence of shear mixing rates on short carbon fiber (SCF) reinforced multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT)/epoxy nanocomposite on electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness (SE) and thermal and mechanical properties. At a constant filler loading of SCF (5 wt%) and MWCNT (1 wt%), the various shear mixing rates of SCF in MWCNT/epoxy are 50, 500 and 1000 rpm. The morphological study using HR-SEM revealed that the MWCNT and SCF are well dispersed in the epoxy matrix within all the samples. It is also observed that the SCF length is getting reduced with increasing shear mixing rate, thereby reducing the electrical conductivity. The low shear mixed sample has a higher EMI SE throughout the measured frequency range (8–26 GHz). In the X, Ku and K band frequency ranges, the average total EMI SE of the high shear mixed sample is 32, 44.1 and 52.8 dB, respectively, whereas, the low shear mixed sample has 61.8, 68, and 86.3 dB, respectively. Thermal conductivity measured using laser flash analysis and thermography showed that the low shear rate sample has better thermal properties. Furthermore, the dynamic mechanical study revealed that the low shear mixture has a reduced damping factor tan δ and enhanced glass transition temperature. Thus, it is concluded that the low shear mixed SCF-loaded MWXNT/epoxy composite can be used as an electronic cabinet material.