Electrical conductivity and EMI shielding studies of iron-decorated polypyrrole-fly ash nanocomposites

Iron decorated Polypyrrole-Fly ash nanocomposites have been synthesized by varying compositions of fly ash with 5,10,15, 20 and 25 wt% using in situ polymerization. The morphology, structural characteristics were confirmed by various spectroscopic methods like X-ray Diffraction, Scanning Electronic Microscopy, FTIR, Tunnelling Electron Microscopy. The X-ray diffraction showed that the crystallinity of the samples increased with the increasing fly ash concentration. The electron microscopic techniques confirmed the uniform decoration of iron particles which are uniformly distributed in the polypyrrole - fly ash nanocomposites. DC conductivity measurements revealed that the samples exhibited semi conducting behaviour. The EMI shielding effectiveness of the as-prepared composites have been investigated in the frequency range 2 - 3 GHz (S-band) of the microwave region. The EMI shielding effectiveness results exhibited that the 25 wt% Fe-Ppy-FA composite absorbed more power among all other composites. These nanocomposites can be used for EMI shielding applications. (c) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Global Conference on Recent Advances in Sustainable Materials 2021.