Influence of heat treatment on electromagnetic properties of polyimide/carbon black composites

A kind of absorbing materials was prepared by hot pressing method using polyimide as matrix and carbon black (CB) as filler. The mechanical properties, the electromagnetic properties, and the thermal stability of polyimide/CB composites were studied. The results showed that the complex permittivity increased from 6.82 + 1.38i to 18.69 + 9.47i, whereas the flexural strength decreased from 108 MPa to 77 MPa, respectively, when the CB content increased from 2 wt% to 8 wt%. The reflection loss curves shifted to low frequency with increase of the thickness at the same content. The reflection loss below ?10 dB could be obtained in the X band with 6 wt% CB content and did not display significant difference before and after the heat treatment at 400°C for 5 h. When the content of CB was 8 wt%, the decomposition temperature (at 5% weight loss) increased approximately 42°C compared with pure polyimide matrix. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.