Carbon fiber reinforced composites from industrial waste for microwave absorption and electromagnetic interference shielding applications

Lightweight materials with hybrid microstructures are getting great attention in the area of electromagnetic wave absorption. In the present study, carbon fiber and fly ash reinforced composites are prepared by mixing them with ground granulated blast furnace slag, followed by compaction and sintering at 1000 °C under an argon atmosphere. Akermanite-gehlenite was observed to be the primary crystalline phase present in the prepared samples. Porous composites are obtained with the addition of fly ash and carbon fiber as they inhibit densification. The resultant microstructure has homogeneous carbon fiber dispersion and uniform fly ash anchoring on the matrix phase. This enhanced interface polarization, defect polarization, electron transportation, and impedance matching characteristics of the composites. Hence, the developed composites' microwave absorption and electromagnetic interference shielding properties exhibited an outstanding performance at low thickness with a reflection loss value of −41.24 dB and total shielding effectiveness of 42.29 dB at the X-band.