Carbon materials and their composites for electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness in X-band

Owing to intensive advancement in telecommunications and electronics devices, electromagnetic pollution has become a serious concern for civic life, and their interference can cause failure of the other electronic devices and systems. Therefore, the lightweight electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials are of vital importance for controlling the electromagnetic pollution and protecting the human as well as the other nearby devices or systems. In this regard, carbon materials and their composites have been proved to be the best due to their unique properties such as advanced electrical conductivities, high surface area, light weight, environmental friendliness, excellent flexibility, low density, chemical stability and excellent mechanical properties. Various carbon forms such as graphene, carbon nanotubes, carbon fiber, carbon aerogels, carbon black, activated carbon and carbon nanoparticles, as well as their hybrid composites have been extensively developed for microwave absorption and shielding. The microstructures of the carbon nanomaterials and their configurations, various structures of the shield and inclusion of the magnetic and dielectric materials in the shield have been found to be significantly beneficial for high EMI shielding effectiveness. In this paper, the synthesis and EMI shielding performances of these carbon based materials in X-band (8.2–12.4 GHz) have been reviewed and their shielding mechanisms are discussed.