Abstract
Electromagnetic interference (EMI) disturbs the working of electronic and
electrical equipment used in aerospace, military, and many more areas. This
disturbance leads to the complete failure of equipment and it is also very dangerous
to human beings, especially radiation created by mobile phones. The considerable
development in materials has been achieved with the fabrication of the shield in the
form of composite sheets, paints, coatings, etc. Now, there is a need to fabricate
flexible materials to achieve intricate shapes and structures to provide excellent EMI
shielding in a wide frequency range. In addition to EM pollution, society is also
dealing with pollution created by solid waste like fly ash. The disposal of fly ash has
become a challenge due to its astounding amount produced in coal thermal power
plants. This research work demonstrates the usage of fly ash to fabricate advanced
composites for electromagnetic shielding applications. This chapter will throw some
light on the electromagnetic shielding mechanism, EMI shielding measurement
methods, fabrication of smart materials for shielding application in the designing of
conducting polypyrrole nanocomposites, polyurethane composites, and cement paint
composite using fly ash along with other magnetic/dielectric reinforcement to develop
material offering optimized electromagnetic shielding properties. Moreover, these
composites are further tested for other characterization techniques. These developed
smart materials not only find a solution for the utilization of fly ash but also offer
excellent shielding effectiveness in a wide frequency range.