ABSTRACT
Synthetic plastic-based shields have dominated the entire domain of shielding materials. Even though they possess outstanding shielding efficiency, their lack of biodegradability is a drawback. The e-waste generated by these materials after their service life has become a new challenge to society. Hence, biodegradable polymers are emerging as promising candidates for EMI shielding applications due to their biodegradability, good mechanical strength, thermal stability, and processability. Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(Ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL) are the two major biodegradable thermoplastics that have gained significant attention as biodegradable matrices for fabricating sustainable EMI shields. With the incorporation of conductive nanofillers and magnetic nanoparticles, the microwave absorption and EMI shielding efficacy of these nanocomposites can be tuned. In this chapter, we discuss in detail the degradation mechanism, processing, and fabrication techniques employed for designing PCL- and PLA-based shields.
