Enhanced electromagnetic interference shielding in nickel oxide and graphene composite nanostructures loaded polyvinylidene difluoride thin films

Polyvinylidene difluoride nanocomposites having high dielectric, microwave absorption and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding properties has been prepared by loading Nickel oxide (NiO) and NiO embedded graphene hybrid nanostructures into PVDF matrix, and characterized. NiO nanoparticle and NiO/graphene were synthesized from hydrothermal reactions at 80 °C. The nanocomposites are prepared by the solvent casting method of NiO and NiO/graphene hybrid nanomaterials embedded PVDF are evaluated for their thermal, morphological, dielectric, microwave absorption and electromagnetic interference shielding behavior. The TGA results revealed that the thermal permanence of the nanocomposites was improved proportional to the NiO and NiO/graphene content in the PVDF matrix. The SEM analysis revealed the dissemination of the NiO nanoparticles (3%) indicating homogeneous distribution unvaryingly throughout the PVDF matrix. The 10 wt% of NiO/Graphene/PVDF composites showed highest conductivity of 6.8 × 10-14 at 1000 Hz and a dielectric constant of 90. The reinforcement of 3% NiO in PVDF matrix leads to a tremendous enrichment in the EMI shielding value with a highest shielding effectiveness of 39 dB at 10.3 GHZ which is considerably higher than the Pristine PVDF and other samples prepared.