Lightweight, flexible and superhydrophobic composite nanofiber films inspired by nacre for highly electromagnetic interference shielding

Abstract

Inspired by the hierarchical structure of nacre, this study prepared a lightweight, flexible, and superhydrophobic polyacrylonitrile (PAN)@SiO2-Ag composite nanofibrous film with high performance electromagnetic-interference shielding via electrospinning. SiO2 incorporated into PAN electro-spun films provided the adhesion site for Ag nanoparticles (AgNPS). AgNPS were then deposited onto the surface of PAN@SiO2 electrospinning nanofibers via facile wet electroless deposition, thus endowing the resulting nanofibers with a core–shell structure. After finishing with a PTDT agent, PAN@SiO2-Ag composite nanofiber films had super hydrophobic property, and their water contact angle reached 156.99°. This scenario also presented high conductivity (approximately 17,788 S/m), average shielding effectiveness (SE), specific SE (SSE), and SSE/t, achieving 82 dB, 367 dB cm3g−1 and 73,478 dB cm2g−1, respectively. This study provides an easy method to prepare bioinspired composite films with high conductive and electromagnetic shielding and high potential applications, such as in wearable and flexible sensors.