Enhancement of microwave absorption bandwidth of polymer blend using ferromagnetic gadolinium silicide nanoparticles

Journal Article · 13 April 2019 · Materials Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2019.04.013 · OSTI ID:1529366

Bora, Pritom J. ^[1]; Gupta, Shalabh ^[2]; Pecharsky, Vitalij K. ^[3]; Vinoy, K. J. ^[4]; Ramamurthy, Praveen C. ^[5]; Hadimani, Ravi L. ^[6]

---

1. Indian Inst. of Technology (IIT), Madras (India). Interdisciplinary Centre for Energy Research (ICER)
2. Ames Laboratory (AMES), Ames, IA (United States)
3. Ames Lab. and Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)
4. Indian Inst. of Technology (IIT), Madras (India). Dept. of Electrical and Communication Engineering
5. Indian Inst. of Technology (IIT), Madras (India). Interdisciplinary Centre for Energy Research (ICER); Indian Inst. of Technology (IIT), Madras (India). Dept. of Materials Engineering
6. Virginia Commonwealth Univ., Richmond, VA (United States); Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)

Ferromagnetic gadolinium silicide (Gd₅Si₄) nanoparticles significantly enhance the microwave absorption bandwidth of a polymer blend (PVB-PEDOT:PSS). These materials are essentially needed for various military and civilian applications such as X-band (8.2–12.4 GHz) and Ku-band (12.4–18 GHz) absorption. A single 1.2 mm thick layer of PVB-PEDOT:PSS-Gd₅Si₄ (PPGS) nanocomposite film demonstrates the most promising bandwidth (8.2–18 GHz) with a minimum reflection loss of -14 dB. Mechanistically, dielectric loss ($$\mathcal {tan}$$δ_e ≈2.4) and magnetic loss ($$\mathcal {tan}$$δ_m ≈1.1) contributes more efficiently, and standard microwave simulation confirms the stored energy is predominant in PPGS nanocomposite which enhances the bandwidth.

• Research Organization: Ames Laboratory (AMES), Ames, IA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-07CH11358
• OSTI ID: 1529366
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1636212
• Report Number(s): IS-J-9660
• Journal Information: Materials Letters, Vol. 252, Issue C; ISSN 0167-577X
• Publisher: ElsevierCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English