Facile One-Pot Hydrothermal Synthesis of Copper Nanowires and Their Impact on the EMI Shielding Capability of Epoxy Composites

In this work epoxy nanocomposites containing varying content of copper nanowires (CuNW) were produced. The CuNW were synthesized using a facile one-pot hydrothermal synthesis method. The composites were characterized for their electrical conductivity and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness in the X-band. The electrical conductivity of the epoxy composites was measured, and the composites containing 12 wt % CuNW demonstrated percolated behavior and exhibited a frequency-independent conductivity value of 1.76 x 10(-6) S m(-1) in the range of 25-200 Hz. The 12 wt % CuNW sample demonstrated an EMI shielding effectiveness value of 6.5 dB, which corresponds to 77.1 % attenuation of the incident electromagnetic wave. Furthermore, an absorption-dominated shielding mechanism was observed in these composites.