A journey of thermoplastic elastomer nanocomposites for electromagnetic shielding applications: from bench to transitional research

The rapid growth and day to day skyrocketing use of electronic equipment and gadgets used across a vast spectrum of industrial, military, consumer, and commercial sectors have led to a meteoritic rise in a new type of electronic pollution such as electronic noise, radiofrequency interference (RFI), and electromagnetic interference (EMI) which leads to the interference or malfunctioning of the electronic equipment. Studies in the past revealed that metals and their alloys, dielectric ceramics, and semiconductors are promising candidates for EMI shielding materials but their high cost, heavy weight, and low corrosion resistance have narrowed their application. On the other hand, polymer composites are easy to fabricate, more economical, and corrosion-resistant. Although inherently being insulators, these polymer composites can be made conductive by adding conductive fillers to the polymer matrix to increase their electrical conductivity. This review paper reports the application of conductive thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) nanocomposites in the shielding of electromagnetic interference.