Tunable electromagnetic interference shielding ability of MXene/chitosan/silver nanowire sandwich films

The structural design of thin films is attracting attention in academia and industry in attempts to improve electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE). In this study, MXene/chitosan/silver nanowire (AgNW) sandwich films, in which the AgNW core layer was bordered by two MXene/chitosan layers, were fabricated by vacuum-assisted filtration. Because of the interconnected AgNWs in the core layer and the aligned MXene sheets in the MXene/chitosan layers, the electrical conductivity of the sandwich film reached 11,459.1 S/m. Consequently, the sandwich film exhibited an SE value of 82.3 dB. What is more, when both the AgNW and MXene contents were 33.3%, the sandwich film’s EMI SE divided by its thickness was 26,167 dB/cm, which was much superior to the values reported for inorganic hybrid composites and polymer composites filled with hybrid fillers. Such a simple approach was proved to be an effective way for further structure design of thin films in EMI shielding field.