Abstract
In this study, we investigated the influence of carbon-silica dual-phase fillers on the dielectric and microwave properties of natural-rubber-based composites determined in the frequency range from 1 to 12 GHz. The fillers were prepared by the impregnation of two types of carbon black with various silicasol amounts. As the results show, the fillers affected both the dielectric and microwave properties of the obtained composites. The higher the quantity of the dielectric phase (silica) in the hybrid filler was, the lower the real part of the permittivity of the composites was. This caused changes in the total, reflective, and absorptive shielding effectivenesses of the latter and their reflection and attenuation coefficients. (C) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.