Lightweight carbon fiber hybrid film for high-efficiency electromagnetic interference shielding and electro/photo-thermal conversion applications

Enormous electromagnetic pollutions emerge with the rapid development of electronic technique, high-performance electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding composites are greatly desired to protect human and precision instruments from electromagnetic interference. Here we fabricated a lightweight, porous carbon fiber felt/Ag/polydimethylsiloxane (CFF/Ag/PDMS) composite film via electroless plating and dip-coating method. The obtained homogenously distributed Ag nanoparticles on the surface of carbon fibers and the porous structure of CFF endow the film with excellent electrical conductivity and superior EMI shielding effectiveness (EMI SE). The maximum electrical conductivity and EMI SE value of the composite film with a thickness of 0.21 mm reach 540.9 S/cm and 105 dB at 8.2–12.4 GHz (X-band), respectively. Benefitting from the encapsulation of PDMS, the composite film exhibits outstanding corrosion resistance and oxidation resistance. Particularly, the composite film also exhibits excellent electro/photo-thermal conversion effect with outstanding heating controllability, cyclic stability, which shows great potential in 5 G communication technology and thermal management.