A Holistic Approach to Evaluate EMI Shielding Characteristics of Carbon Nanotube-based Polymer Composites

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The work presents a comprehensive methodology to determine the Shielding Effectiveness (SE) of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs)/polymer nanocomposites. Here, an algorithm based on Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) was employed to determine the electrical conductivity (σ) of these nanocomposites as a function of SWCNT concentration. Then, these σ values were used to compute the SE values as a function of frequency and concentration. Specifically, a pseudo three-dimensional (3D) percolation model was developed to study the effects of random connectivity of SWCNTs to one another on the σ values of the nanocomposites. Both intrinsic and tunneling resistances were taken into account. The consequences of the presence of both well-exfoliated and aggregated SWCNTs with varying lengths distributed inhomogeneously on σ and SE values were investigated.