Synergistic improvement of mechanical and EMI shielding capabilities in multifunctional hybrid wire mesh/natural fibre-based composites

Abstract Hybrid sisal fiber composites show promise for sustainability, but their Electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance with wire mesh reinforcement remains unexplored. Therefore, the present research was focused on incorporating sisal fibers with stainless steel (SS) and Aluminium (Al) wire meshes, to enhance the mechanical properties, water absorption behavior and EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) of the composites. Four different composites were fabricated using compression moulding: sisal fiber composite, SS wire mesh reinforced composite, Al wire mesh reinforced composite, and a hybrid composite combining both SS and Al wire meshes. The fabricated composite samples were tested through tensile, flexural, impact, and EMI SE tests. The hybrid wire mesh composite revealed superior performance, such as high tensile strength (47.32 MPa), impact energy absorption (2.25 J), and withstanding a maximum bending load (175 N). Additionally, the EMI SE results indicated that the hybrid wire mesh composite attained a maximum SE of 35 dB, which is 21% and 7% higher than those of samples 2 and 3, respectively. Wire mesh incorporated composites revealed a minimum water absorption % compared to sisal fiber composite. The improvement is mainly due to the synergistic properties of SS and Al meshes that lead to improved load distribution and effective reflection and absorption of EM radiation.