Advancements in technology and widespread usage of electronic equipment have led to a vast hike in electromagnetic pollution such as electromagnetic interference (EMI). This has resulted in major concerns regarding human health and improper functioning of electronic devices. Therefore, high-performance EMI shielding materials are necessary to ensure human well-being and protect systems in domestic, civil, or military applications. Earlier, metals and alloys of metals served as EMI shielding materials. But due to their heavy weight, low corrosion resistance, and advancements in miniaturization of electronic devices, currently, metals have only restricted applications in EMI shielding. Thus, flexible, lightweight, and high-performance EMI shielding materials assume great significance. Polymer composites have emerged as a better alternative to EMI shielding materials because of their light weight, corrosion resistance, and ease of fabrication. This article reviews the important literature on electrospun polymer composite fibers for EMI shielding applications. Fabrication methods and different types of fillers and their influence on EMI shielding properties are discussed in detail. The article tries to highlight the huge potential of the electrospinning technique toward the development of specialty materials for EMI shielding.
Electrospinning is a useful and convenient method for producing ultrathin fibers. It has grabbed the scientific community’s interest due to its potential to produce fibers with various morphologies. Numerous efforts have been made by researchers and industrialists to improve the electrospinning setup and the associated techniques in order to regulate the morphology of the electrospun fibers for practical applications. Porous, hollow, helical, aligned, multilayer, core-shell, and multichannel fibers have been fabricated for different applications. This chapter aims to provide readers with a clear understanding of the electrospinning process: its principle, methodology, materials, and applications. The chapter begins with a brief introduction to the history of electrospinning, followed by a discussion of its principle and the basic components of electrospinning setup. The parameters that affect the electrospinning process such as operating parameters and the properties of the material being electrospun are discussed briefly. An overview of the different types of electrospinning technique, capable of producing nanofibers with different morphologies, is also presented. Afterward, the applications of electrospun nanofibers, including their use in biomedical applications, filtration, energy sectors, and sensors applications are discussed succinctly. The perspectives on the challenges, opportunities, and new directions for future development of electrospinning technology are also offered.
High-performance green electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials are in great demand due to the growing need for portable electronic devices and high speed digital communication devices. Developing high-efficiency, lightweight, and flexible EMI shielding materials for practical applications is still a major challenge. Herein, we demonstrate a facile approach for fabricating thin and lightweight N-doped carbon nanofibers (CNFs) containing La 0.85 Sr 0.15 CoO 3−δ (LSCO) nanoparticles (NPs) (LSCO-CNFs) through electrospinning followed by heat treatment. CNFs incorporated with 25 wt % LSCO NPs (LSCO-CNFs-25) exhibited high electrical conductivity (2.1 S cm −1 ) and high EMI shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) of 45 dB with a low thickness (0.08 mm) in Xband, K u -band, and K-band (8.2−26.5 GHz). The material showed an absorption-dominated shielding mechanism due to formation of a 3D electrically conductive network, high interfacial polarization arising from the presence of LSCO NPs in CNFs, and the porous and layer-by-layer structure of CNFs. The flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composites of LSCO-CNFs were prepared by hand lay-up methods for enhancing the mechanical properties and hydrophobicity. The LSCO-CNFs-25 PDMS composites exhibited a high EMI SE of 45.6 dB with a thickness of 0.62 mm. The LSCO-CNFs-PDMS composites are ideal for fabricating lightweight, thin, waterproof, flexible, and high-performance EMI shielding materials.
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