Experimental and Computational Study of Shielding Effectiveness of Metal Grids

3D printing method is employed to fabricate silver-based metal grid with flexibility, well-ventilation, high transparency, and ultrahigh Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) shielding performance. A significant influence of the conductivity and pore area of the metal grid on its EMI shielding effectiveness is revealed, providing an intriguing metal grid design strategy. A finite element model is also used to study the EMI shielding mechanisms of the metal grid with different conductivities. The experimental and theoretical study predicts that the conductivity, pore area are the main parameters that affect the shielding effectiveness of a sample which is confirmed by the experimental and simulation results. Due to the reasonable pattern designing, the EMI shielding effectiveness of the as-prepared metal grid reaches up to 35 dB with a pore area of about 40%. Based on the results of the simulation, the metal grids show an ultrahigh average EMI SE of over 55 dB in the frequency range 0.5 to 1 GHz. The simulation and calculation study also demonstrates the relationship between the pore area and EMI SE, which will provide a guideline to design the EMI shield metal grids.