High-efficiency electromagnetic interference shielding and thermal management of high-graphene nanoplate-loaded composites enabled by polymer-infiltrated technique

Abstract

Polymer composites embedded with high filler loads (≥50 wt%) are urgently needed to address the electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding and thermal barrier problems for the high-power integrated electronic devices. However, designing polymer composites with high filler loads remains a challenge due to difficulties in processability and poor flexibility. Herein, high graphene nanoplates-loaded polyurethane (GNP/PU) composites were enabled by a tractable and scalable polymer-infiltrated technique, in which GNPs were in compact contact face to face and arranged along the in-plane direction. The formation of such structure provided good channels for the transmission of electrons and phonons in the GNP/PU composites. Impressively, the GNP/PU composites showed strong EMI shielding and thermal conductivity, with a superior EMI shielding effectiveness of 67.6 dB (0.4 mm thickness), and extremely high thermal conductivity of 41.60 W/(m·K). Moreover, the GNP/PU composites were proven to have excellent mechanical flexibility, EMI shielding stability, and thermal management capability. With good comprehensive performance and high processability, the GNP/PU composites hold great promise for EMI shielding and thermal management applications in the field of highly integrated electronics.