Electromagnetic field propagation through a clay composite with antimony tin oxide (ATO) additive

In this paper, clay composites were tested for electromagnetic field transmission in the frequency range 1.4 to 4 GHz. Samples were made as composites with antimony tin oxide (ATO). This addition to the clay has significantly reduced the electric field level of the EM wave propagated through the composite. The percentage of additive (ATO) in the clay is 10% by weight. The results presented in this paper include measuring the transmission coefficient S21 for samples of these composites in three stages of sample preparation: wet sample, dry sample and baked sample. These stages are related to the brick production process, and the last stage is brick firing. Therefore, the most important information is about the value of the transmission parameter (S21) and the frequency sub band of the entire measured range of the baked brick. As expected, a decrease in the amount of moisture in the brick composite sample resulted in an increase in the transmission coefficient. The most important data derived from this study are that the minimum value of the transmission parameter S21 was achieved for wet samples and is -78.57 dB at a frequency of 2.83 GHz, with the largest difference being -31.83 dB. For the fired clay sample - the last phase of brick production, the minimum value of the transmission parameter S21 achieved at a frequency of 2.82 GHz is -57.57 dB, with the largest difference in the value of the composite compared to the reference sample -32.08 dB at a frequency of 3.20 GHz.