Nanocomposite foams of polypropylene and carbon nanotubes: preparation, characterization, and evaluation of their performance as EMI absorbers

Highly expanded nanocomposite foams of polypropylene and carbon nanotubes (PP/CNT) are formed using supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO 2 ) technology. The foaming parameters (temperature, pressure) are investigated to establish their infl uence on the morphology of the resulting foams and their impact on the electrical con- ductivity. As promising electromagnetic-interference (EMI) absorbers, the EMI shielding performance of the foams is determined, and a preliminary relationship is established between foam morphology and the EMI shielding perfor- mance. The best candidates are highly expanded foams with a volume expansion of >25, containing 0.1 vol% CNTs; they are able to absorb more than 90% of the incident radiation between 25 and 40 GHz