Effect of incorporating carbon nanocoils on the efficiency of electromagnetic-wave shielding of carbon-nanomaterial composites

Carbon nanocoils (CNCs) were deposited on Al2O3 substrates using C2H2 and H2 as source gases in a thermal chemical vapor deposition system. Composites of CNCs in polyurethane (CNC@PU) and CNCs plus other carbon-based materials, such as carbon microcoils (CMCs) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs), in polyurethane (CNC + CMC@PU, CNC + CNT@PU) was fabricated. The electromagnetic-wave-shielding effectiveness of the CNCs-incorporated composites were examined and compared with those of other carbon-based materials in the measurement-frequency range of 0.25-4.0 GHz. The incorporation of CNCs in CMC@PU composites reduced the shielding effectiveness; on the other hand, it slightly enhanced the shielding effectiveness of CNT@PU composites within the measurement frequency range of 0.5-3.0 GHz. Based on the resulting shielding effectiveness, we conclude that the incorporation of CNCs was useful for the materials that exhibited reflection-based shielding effectiveness although the CNCs themselves had poor electrical conductivity.