Utilization of Fly Ash Composites in Electromagnetic Shielding Applications

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.