Flexible, Ultrathin, and High-Efficiency Electromagnetic Shielding Properties of Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride)/Carbon Composite Films

Abstract

In this study, we fabricated conductive poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)/carbon composites simply by dispersing multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene nanoplatelets into a PVDF solution. The electrical conductivity and the electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding of the PVDF/carbon composites were increased by increasing the conductive carbon filler amounts. Moreover, we also found that the EMI shielding properties of the PVDF/CNT/graphene composites were higher than those of PVDF/CNT and PVDF/graphene composites. The mean EMI shielding values of PVDF/5 wt %-CNT, PVDF/10 wt %-graphene, and PVDF/CNT/graphene composite films with a thickness of 0.1 mm were 22.41, 18.70, and 27.58 dB, respectively. An analysis of the shielding mechanism showed that the main contribution to the EMI shielding came from the absorption mechanism, and that the EMI shielding could be tuned by controlling the films’ thickness. The total shielding of the PVDF/CNT/graphene films increased from 21.90 to 36.46 dB as the thickness was increased from 0.06 mm to 0.25 mm. In particular, the PVDF/carbon composite films, with a thickness of 0.1 mm, achieved the highest specific shielding values of 1 310 dB cm2/g for the PVDF/5 wt %-CNT composite and 1 557 dB cm2/g for the PVDF/CNT/graphene composite, respectively. This was due to the ultrathin thickness. Our study provides the groundwork for an effective way to design flexible, ultrathin conductive polymer composite film for application in miniaturized electronic devices.