Microwave characterization and modelling of PA6/GNPs composites

The interest in composite materials has increased in the last decades since they have the advantages of combining intrinsic properties of each component and offer better performance with respect to the base constituents. In particular, these kinds of materials can have different electrical characteristics by varying the filling percentage and, therefore, they can be used in diverse applications. Thus, a detailed study of the microwave response of these composite systems is of great practical importance. In fact, the dielectric constant and loss tangent are key factors in the design of microwave components. In this frame, the outstanding properties of graphene-like fillers may be exploited to develop new very interesting materials to study and characterize. In this paper, microwave characterization of compounds, based on nylon 6 containing different percentages of graphene nanoplatelets, is carried out taking the neat matrix sample processed under the same conditions as benchmark. The measurements were carried out using two microwave systems, operating at two different frequency bands, appropriate to characterize solid and compact material samples. The achieved results, in line with limited data from the literature and from material data sheets, highlight the possibility to use the present polymers as an excellent electromagnetic interference shielding, as confirmed by full wave electromagnetic numerical simulations that were conducted with a numerical electromagnetic software.