Engineering magnetic type radio-absorbers based on composites with a dual-phase polymer matrix

Abstract

This work is focused on the optimization of electromagnetic and mechanical properties of magnetic polymer composites for EMI applications as radio absorbers (RAs). Polymer composites with a dual-phase polymer matrix, vinyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) in epoxy (ER), were investigated for fabricating highlyfilled manganese zinc ferrite (MnZn) and carbonyl iron (CI) composites with respect to radio-absorption and mechanical properties. The dielectric and magnetic properties of the composites were determined by the type, concentration as well as the polymer matrix composition. Increase of the filler and the PDMS concentration leads to an increase in magnetic losses due to a decrease in the demagnetizing field. The electromagnetic properties of the composites were evaluated in the RF band using the impedance method (1 MHz–3 GHz). Based on the complex permittivity (ε*) and the complex permeability (μ*), the reflection loss RL (dB) of single-layer metal-backed RAs were calculated. The RAs with a MnZn ferrite demonstrated a larger bandwidth to thickness ratio in comparison with the CI-based RAs due to a proper ratio between ε* and μ* which leads to the better impedance matching conditions. According to the mechanical analyses (DMA, Charpy impact strength) the significant increase of stiffness up to 125% and the impact strength up to 150% was achieved due to the optimal composition of the polymer matrix and the filler.