High performance porous Ni@Cf paper with excellent electromagnetic shielding properties

Carbon fiber (Cf) is one of the ideal electromagnetic shielding materials due to its excellent high electrical conductivity and electromagnetic interference resistance properties. In this work, the wet papermaking process was employed to prepare high performance porous Cf paper with the electromagnetic shielding effectiveness (SET) of 60 dB in the X-band, and porous Ni@Cf paper with enhanced SET performance was manufactured using chemical plating. This approach employs a palladium-free activation procedure that is simple and inexpensive, while avoiding using environmentally harmful PdCl2. Ni@Cf paper's three-dimensional network structure has superior conductivity of 400 s/cm at a thickness of 0.36 mm and SET of 120 dB in the X-band, shielding more than 99.99 % electromagnetic radiation. Besides, it also offers excellent air permeability, hydrophobicity, salt spray corrosion resistance, and mechanical properties. Therefore, new porous Ni@Cf paper proposed in this study is of great significance, which has potential value in aerospace, military and other fields.