Leather-like hierarchical porous composites with outstanding electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness and durability

Abstract

Delicate microstructure design and suitable matrixes are vital for attaining advanced electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials with lightweight, flexible, durable, processible features. By mimicking natural leather, a three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical porous scaffold integrated with silver nanowires (AgNWs) and anti-abrasion polyurethane (PU) was constructed via a facile dip-coating method at ambient temperature. The interconnected micrometer-sized voids and unique hierarchical structure of this composite benefit uniform AgNWs anchored and the superior shielding performance by significantly enhancing the absorption loss of electromagnetic waves (98.5%). Intriguingly, the leather-like composite possesses the best EMI shielding effectiveness (~110 dB, 8.2–12.4 GHz) compared with reported natural leather-based shielding materials to date. Furthermore, the 3D PU network provides strong adhesion strength and mechanical properties, allowing the stable and durable EMI shielding performance of such composite to resist ultrasonic washing, strong acid, strong base, tape-peeling, bending, and abrasion.