Development, characterization and simulation of flexible single-layer X-band microwave absorbers based on conducting polyaniline

Abstract

Two absorbing materials containing conducting polymer polyaniline (PAni) were produced in the form of single-layer flexible sheets. One of the materials consisted of PAni dispersed in a polymer matrix composed of a mixture of polyurethane and polyacrylonitrile. The other material was made of compacted PAni. The electromagnetic properties of these materials were analyzed using the waveguide technique in the frequency range 8-12 GHz (X-Band). To better understand the absorbing properties of these materials, the electromagnetic software pack- age CST Microwave StudioTM was used to simulate the attenuation of an electromagnetic wave incident on the absorbing materials. The results show that these materials have the potential to be used as microwave absorbers, and the simulations performed with CST agreed well with the experimental data. Copyright © (2008) by the Electromagnetics Academy.