Significantly Enhanced Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Performances of Epoxy Nanocomposites with Long-Range Aligned Lamellar Structures

Abstract

Abstract High‑efficiency electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials are of great importance for electronic equipment reliability, information security and human health. In this work, bidirectional aligned Ti3C2Tx@Fe3O4/CNF aerogels (BTFCA) were firstly assembled by bidirectional freezing and freeze-drying technique, and the BTFCA/epoxy nanocomposites with long-range aligned lamellar structures were then prepared by vacuum-assisted impregnation of epoxy resins. Benefitting from the successful construction of bidirectional aligned three-dimensional conductive networks and electromagnetic synergistic effect, when the mass fraction of Ti3C2Tx and Fe3O4 are 2.96 and 1.48 wt%, BTFCA/epoxy nanocomposites show outstanding EMI shielding effectiveness of 79 dB, about 10 times of that of blended Ti3C2Tx@Fe3O4/epoxy (8 dB) nanocomposites with the same loadings of Ti3C2Tx and Fe3O4. Meantime, the corresponding BTFCA/epoxy nanocomposites also present excellent thermal stability (T heat-resistance index of 198.7 °C) and mechanical properties (storage modulus of 9902.1 MPa, Young's modulus of 4.51 GPa and hardness of 0.34 GPa). Our fabricated BTFCA/epoxy nanocomposites would greatly expand the applications of MXene and epoxy resins in the fields of information security, aerospace and weapon manufacturing, etc.

Keywords

• Electromagnetic interference shielding
• Epoxy nanocomposites
• Ti3C2Tx
• Fe3O4
• Bidirectional aligned three-dimensional conductive networks