Electromagnetic metamaterials created by 3D printing

The increasing miniaturization and integration of numerous components in electronic devices and the booming use of wireless technologies leads to an explosion in the amount of electromagnetic waves and resulting crosstalk. Therefore, there is a need for efficient electromagnetic shielding materials. In addition, with the recent 5G mobile network, a major challenge is to enhance the range of the electromagnetic waves, which could be accomplished by suitable wave bending around obstacles. Polymer nanocomposites containing functional conductive and magnetic particles have been shown to have large potential as flexible, easily processable and efficient EM shielding materials. In addition, using multi-phasic polymeric materials in which the particles are selectively localized in one phase, provides improved shielding responses. However, the types of morphologies that can be generated with traditional processing techniques are limited. Therefore, in this research, a 3D printing setup will be developed that allows to print multiple materials with the aim of generating multi-phasic structures for EM shielding.