Preparation and Mechanical Properties of Electromagnetic Shielding Coatings on 304 Stainless Steel Surfaces

ZHAO Gongao; LI Da; JIA Yiwei; SUN Wanhua; QIU Ji; WANG Hefeng; XING Xuegang

doi:10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2026.04.015

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Surface Technology ›› 2026, Vol. 55 ›› Issue (4) : 182-190. DOI: 10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2026.04.015

Functional Surfaces and Technology

Preparation and Mechanical Properties of Electromagnetic Shielding Coatings on 304 Stainless Steel Surfaces

ZHAO Gongao¹, LI Da¹, JIA Yiwei¹, SUN Wanhua¹, QIU Ji¹, WANG Hefeng^1,2,3,*, XING Xuegang⁴

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Abstract

With the advent of the information age, the electromagnetic interference emitted by commercial and military electronic equipment (radar, smart phones and wireless local area networks) has caused serious electromagnetic pollution. The electromagnetic radiation generated during the operation of electronic equipment not only interferes with the normal operation of other electronic components, but also induces health risks such as headache, depression and immunodeficiency of operators. Therefore, it is urgent to develop efficient electromagnetic protection technology to ensure the stable operation of equipment and human health and safety. The soft magnetic FeNi alloy can efficiently absorb electromagnetic waves through the magnetic loss-dielectric loss coupling mechanism by virtue of its high saturation magnetization and excellent permeability. However, the direct application of FeNi alloy materials in the field of electromagnetic shielding has defects such as high bulk density, high cost and easy corrosion. The FeNi alloy coating is prepared by surface coating technology to meet the requirements of low density, strong attenuation ability and high effective absorption bandwidth of electromagnetic shielding materials in the future high-tech era. Double glow plasma surface alloying technology (DGPSA) is used to deposit on the surface of the substrate under physical sputtering by high-energy argon ions generated by glow discharge bombarding the source. At the same time, argon ions bombard the surface of the substrate, so that the surface of the substrate is rapidly heated to the critical diffusion temperature, and the gradient alloying coating combined with the substrate metallurgy is formed by bulk diffusion. Double glow plasma surface alloying technology (DGPSA) is a kind of surface treatment technology with fast infiltration speed, energy saving, large area treatment and environmental friendliness. It has broad prospects in various engineering applications. The thickness of the coating can be controlled during the preparation process, and a continuous, dense and metallurgically bonded surface alloying coating can be formed.
In this work, the FeNi alloy coating is prepared on a 304 stainless steel substrate based on double glow plasma surface alloying (DGPSA) technology, and its electromagnetic shielding and mechanical properties are systematically investigated. The microstructure and phase composition of the coating are characterized by SEM and XRD. The electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of X-band (8.2-12.4 GHz) is tested by vector network analyzer. The influence of strain rate on hardness and elastic modulus is analyzed by nanoindentation. The experimental results show that the coating prepared at 900 ℃ has a thickness of about 6 μm and some defects, and the coating prepared at 950 ℃ increases to 12 μm and the density is significantly improved. Both of them have face-centered cubic (FCC) crystal structure. The X-band shielding effectiveness increases significantly with the increase of temperature, and that of the coatings at 900 ℃and 950 ℃ reaches 29 dB and 35 dB, respectively. The hardness and elastic modulus of the coating at 950 ℃ are 2.04 GPa and 123.6 GPa, respectively. The hardness is positively correlated with the increase of strain rate (strain rate effect), while the elastic modulus remains strain rate independent. Compared with the coating prepared at 900 ℃, the coating prepared at 950 ℃ has higher density, which effectively reduces the magnetic flux leakage caused by interface defects. At the same time, the excellent ductility of the coating can effectively avoid brittle fracture, making it have a broader application prospect.

Key words

FeNi alloy coating / electromagnetic shielding / double glow plasma surface alloying / vector network analyzer / nanoindentation / strain rate effect

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ZHAO Gongao, LI Da, JIA Yiwei, SUN Wanhua, QIU Ji, WANG Hefeng, XING Xuegang. Preparation and Mechanical Properties of Electromagnetic Shielding Coatings on 304 Stainless Steel Surfaces[J]. Surface Technology. 2026, 55(4): 182-190

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Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China for Young Scientists Project (11802199); The Science and Technology Activities of Overseas Students in Shanxi Province in 2024 are Selected for Funding (2024-63); China-Belarus Belt and Road Joint Laboratory on Electromagnetic Environment Effect (ZBKF2022031101)