Fabrication and comparison of mechanical and EMI shielding properties of various fibre reinforced multi-layered epoxy composites

The present work deals with the comparison of the various Fibre Reinforced Epoxy Composites (FRECs) for EMI shielding applications. The fabrication of the FRECs was done by simple hand-lay-up method. The composites consisting of silk fibre, glass fibre, carbon fibre with single and double layer and the hybrid of these three fibres. The collation of different FRECs revealed that the properties of the neat epoxy could be improved by the reinforcement of fibres. The double layered composites showed high tensile strength and flexural strength than the single layered composites whereas the EMI shielding property of the both single and double layered composites remain unchanged. Among FRECs, the CFRP-2 composite showed excellent mechanical properties with 24.9 N/mm2 tensile strength and 140.5 N/mm2 flexural strength. Also, the CFRP and hybrid composites exhibited nearly same EMI shielding Effectiveness (SE) value of around −27dB to −29.7 dB in the X-band frequency range. The work imparted the dominance of absorption phenomenon over the reflection in the prepared FRECs. Being insulators, Glass fibre, silk fibre and epoxy, GFRP and SFRP composites showed low EMI SE value. However, the EMI shielding property of these composites can be increased by incorporating conducting and magnetic fillers to the composites. Hence, the FRECs due to its light weight, corrosion resistance and high mechanical properties became the potential candidate for developing EMI shielding material over conventional metals.