Flexible, Transparent, and Conductive Ti3C2Tx MXene-Silver Nanowire Films with Smart Acoustic Sensitivity for High-Performance Electromagnetic Interference Shielding.

Abstract

Although flexible, transparent, and conductive materials are increasingly required for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding applications in foldable and wearable electronics, it remains a great challenge to achieve outstanding shielding performances while retaining high light transmittances. Herein, a multiscale structure optimization strategy is proposed to fabricate a transparent and conductive silver nanowire (AgNW) film with both high EMI shielding performance and high light transmittance by a scalable spray-coating technique. By decorating with a Ti3C2Tx MXene coating, the connection and integrity of the AgNW network are greatly improved by welding the nanowire junctions. Compared to a neat AgNW film (21 dB) with the same AgNW density, the Ti3C2Tx MXene-welded AgNW film shows a much higher EMI shielding performance (34 dB) with better mechanical and environmental stabilities. Furthermore, the layered structure design on the macroscopic scale results in an even higher EMI shielding efficiency of 49.2 dB with a high light transmittance of ∼83%. With the Ti3C2Tx MXene coating and the PET substrate as a triboelectric pair, the layered structure offers great flexibility for the transparent film to integrate smart sound monitoring capability. Therefore, the combination of excellent EMI shielding performance, high light transmittance, and sensitive pressure response makes the Ti3C2Tx MXene-welded AgNW films promising for many potential applications in next-generation electronics.