Morphology and electromagnetic interference shielding effects of SiC coated carbon short fibers

The electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of C-SiC/epoxy composites was investigated and compared with that of carbon fiber/epoxy composites. C-SiCs, short fibers with carbon cores and silicon carbide shells, were fabricated by a carbothermal reduction process using chopped carbon fibers (CFs) and rice husk ash. After presenting the morphology and structure of the C-SiC fibers, the electromagnetic interference shielding effect of SiC coated carbon short fibers is discussed. The Kα-band (26.5-40.0 GHz) shielding studies revealed that the maximum total shielding effectiveness (SE T ) of the composite with 25 vol% of C-SiCs is 17.07 dB, dominated by absorption, while the composite with 25 vol% of the same sized carbon fibers has a SE T of 8.44 dB only. C-SiC core-shell short fiber fillers improve the electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness in polymer composites.