The Electromagnetic Shielding Effectiveness of a Low-Cost and Transparent Stainless Steel Fiber/Silicone Resin Composite

A low-cost and transparent stainless steel fiber (SSF)/silicone resin composite was prepared by blending shortcut SSF with silicone resins. The SSF was homogeneously dispersed in resins at submicrometer scales and formed cross-linking structures. The visible light transmittance (VLT) and shielding effectiveness (SE) of composite in the frequency range of 300 MHz-1.5 GHz were investigated, and the result showed that the VLT was 70%, while the SE was 15-26 dB and the VLT was 67%, while the SE was 27-36 dB at 1.00 wt.% and 1.25 wt.% SSF concentrations, respectively. The result suggested that SSF/silicone resin composite may be useful for electromagnetic interface shielding application, especially when there is a visibility requirement. The shielding mechanism was investigated by quantitatively studying the absorbed and reflected energy to the total SE, and the result revealed that the dominant shielding mechanism of SSF/silicone resin composite was reflection loss.