Ionic liquid/polar solvent carbon-based ionogel composites for electromagnetic interference shielding by microwave absorption
Résumé
Electromagnetic interference (EMI) presents a significant challenge in today's world due to the widespread adoption of electronic and telecommunication systems. Conventional EMI shielding relies on the reflection of EM waves by using metallic materials thanks to their electronic conductivity. Recently, polymers and polymeric composites, loaded with various fillers, have garnered significant interest for an EMI shielding based on absorption, thanks to the dielectric and/or magnetic properties of the fillers. However, the polymer matrices exhibit low dielectric losses, hence primarily serving a mechanical role and a dispersing medium for the fillers with minimal interaction with the EM waves. This study proposes the use of ionic liquids (ILs)-based polymers due to their high polarity. ILs are organic salts, molten at room temperature and composed purely of anions and cations. After investigation, their microwave loss characteristics revealed large ionic conductivities and dielectric loss factors, which can lead to EM loss through these two absorption mechanisms. Their integration into polymer matrices to form ionogels, which consist of immobilizing the IL within a polymer matrix, was studied. The combination of the ILs with a polar solvent increases the dielectric losses, particularly as the polar solvent itself exhibited high dielectric losses in the GHz region. Compared to bare IL ionogels, the addition of the polar solvent exhibited improved EM absorption and attenuation capabilities. Conversely, incorporating a CNT:Graphene mixture at a 4:1 ratio showed optimal EM absorption. Consequently, shielding effectiveness of over 20 dB (i.e over 99%) and up to 26 dB were obtained in the X (8.2-12 GHz) and Ku (12-18 GHz) bands with high absorption capabilities.