Dielectric and Microwave Properties of Natural Rubber Based Composites Containing Fullerene Black

Abstract

It is expected that filling a rubber with a small amount of fullerene could lead to a new set of properties, bringing to the composite advantages over the rubbers in use. In the present work, the dielectric and microwave properties of natural rubber (SMR10) based composites containing various concentration of fullerene black (0-7,5 phr), rich in fullerenes (7,5%) were investigated in the 1-12 GHz frequency range. It has been established that within the range used for the experiments the increasing frequency and fullerene filler amount lead to an increase in the values of relative dielectric permittivity, dielectric loss angle tangent, reflection coefficient and attenuation of electromagnetic waves, while the values for shielding effectiveness get lower. That is due to the fact that under the experimental conditions the change in the reflection coefficient is greater than that in the attenuation of electromagnetic waves. The dielectric properties of the composites (especially the dielectric loss angle tangent) are more affected by fullerene black filler than their microwave properties. Further change in the properties could also occur at higher concentrations of fullerene black but the cost of rubber compound would be much higher