CO2-based fabrication of biobased and biodegradable poly (3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate)/graphene nanoplates nanocomposite foams: Toward EMI shielding application

Abstract

Of tremendous interest is the design and development of eco-friendly and green polymer foams with outstanding electromagnetic interference (EMI) property, which alleviated the problems of environment and electromagnetic radiation pollution. Herein, a biomass-derived and biodegradable poly (3-hydroxybutyrate- co -3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) based electromagnetic shielding foams incorporated with graphene nanoplates (GNPs) was prepared successfully by supercritical CO 2 . The GNPs network structures were gradually constructed with the addition of GNPs via ball milling, which were testified by the optical microscope and scanning electron microscope. Due to the formation of those GNPs-GNPs network structures, the melt viscoelasticity of diverse PHBV samples increased by 5–6 orders of magnitudes as well as the foamability and cellular structure of their nanocomposite foams was improved. In contrast to pure PHBV, the dielectric properties of PHBV/GNPs nanocomposites enhanced remarkably; in addition, their electrical conductivity increased by 12 orders of magnitude. Furthermore, the EMI shielding performance of obtained PHBV/GNPs foams could be adjusted and achieved the optimum EMI specific shielding effectiveness of 27.4 dB cm 3 /g. This study constructs a green, facile and economic avenue for the preparation of environmentally friendly, high performance and multifunctional PHBV foams for EMI shielding application and environment protection. • 1 . Biodegradable PHBV/GNPs nanocomposite foams for EMI shielding were fabricated. • 2 . GNPs-GNPs network structures were constructed in PHBV nanocomposite via ball milling. • 3 . Five orders of magnitude improvement in storage modulus of PHBV/GNPs4 were achieved. • 4 . PHBV/GNPs nanocomposite increased by 12 orders of magnitude compared with PHBV. • 5 . The SSE of PHBV/GNPs6 nanocomposite foams could reach 27.4 dB cm 3 /g.