Abstract In the present day the usage of electronic devices is predominantly increasing worldwide. Electronic devices rely on both high-speed digital circuits as well as sensitive analog systems in a single mixed-signal printed circuit board (PCB). Electronic devices can be disturbed by unwanted electromagnetic signals, which affect their normal operation. Therefore, the study of electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding for consumer and industrial products is preferred based on the intended applications. In this work, pure Polylactic Acid (PLA), PLA/copper (Cu), PLA/Carbon Nanotubes (CNT), PLA/Carbon Black (CB), Polyamide 6 (PA6)/Carbon Fiber (CF), and Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol-modified (PETG)/CF were fabricated using the Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) technique. All these samples were tested for EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) and complex dielectric properties. The test was conducted using a coaxial transverse electromagnetic (TEM) waveguide setup for the frequency range of 1 GHz to 8 GHz. The results showed that PA6/CF samples exhibited the best SE (~ 15 dB) among the tested materials, while PETG/CF provided an SE value slightly lower than (~ 9 dB) that of PA6 composites. Furthermore, the PLA/CNT and PLA/CB exhibited better improvements in SE than pure PLA samples. This was ascribed to dielectric loss and polarization effects. However, the PLA/Cu samples did not show any improvements in SE values since the Cu particles did not form a conductive network. The dielectric property study reported that the permittivity and dielectric loss were improved due to the addition of conductive filers. These improvements helped in enhancing the EMI attenuation. From the simulation results (i.e., CST and HFSS) they showed a good match with the experimental results; thus, the dielectric characterization could be used to aid EMI SE computations. Based on these results, the PA6/CF samples can be used for EMI shielding applications, especially in electronic, medical and automotive fields.
Sankar et al. (2026) studied this question.