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Ultrafine cellulose nanocrystal-reinforced MXene biomimetic composites for multifunctional electromagnetic interference shielding

超细纤维素纳米晶增强MXene仿生复合材料的多功 能电磁屏蔽性能

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Abstract

Polymers are widely employed to improve the mechanical properties of transition metal carbides and/or nitrides (MXenes) for constructing high-performance electromagnetic interference (EMI) shields. The challenges involve the insulating-polymer-induced compromise of electrical conductivity and EMI shielding performance of the MXene-based composites and the employment of nonrenewable, petrochemical polymers. Here, the one-dimensional, ultrafine, sustainable cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are efficiently employed to reinforce the MXene nanosheets, giving rise to high-strength, highly flexible biomimetic composites that maintain excellent electrical conductivity and EMI shielding effectiveness (SE). The freestanding MXene/CNC nanocomposites gain EMI SE values of 30 to 66 dB at thicknesses of approximately 2 to 14 µm, leading to ultrahigh specific SE and surface-specific SE values of 15,155 dB mm−1 and 54,125 dB cm2 g−1, respectively, which are comparable to those of the best EMI shields ever reported. Moreover, the excellent photothermal performance of the composite films was achieved, extending the application scenarios. Combined with the universal, facile, energy-efficient, and scalable ambient pressure drying preparation approach, the ultrathin, flexible, high-strength, and multifunctional CNC-reinforced MXene-based biomimetic films have shown great potential for applications in next-generation advanced flexible electronic or aerospace systems.

摘要

聚合物用于改善过渡金属碳化物和/或氮化物(MXenes)的力学 性能、构建高性能电磁(EMI)屏蔽结构面临以下挑战: 绝缘聚合物对 MXene基复合材料导电性和电磁屏蔽性能的影响以及聚合物的不可再 生性. 本文将一维、超细、可持续的纤维素纳米晶体(CNCs)用于增强 MXene纳米片, 从而制备出高强度、高柔性、同时兼顾优异导电性和 电磁屏蔽效能(SE)的仿生复合材料, 其性能优于目前报道的聚合物复 合材料. 在厚度仅为2–14 μm的情况下, MXene/CNC纳米复合材料的电 磁屏蔽效能分别达到30–66 dB, 比屏蔽效能和面比屏蔽效能分别达到 15,155 dB mm−1和54,125 dB cm2 g−1. 复合薄膜具有良好的光热性能, 扩展了其应用场景. 结合简便、高效、可规模化的常压干燥制备方法 得到的超薄、柔韧、高强度、多功能的CNC增强MXene基仿生薄膜在 下一代先进电子或航空航天领域显示出巨大的应用潜力.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2021YFB3502500), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (2022HYYQ-014), the Provincial Key Research and Development Program of Shandong (2019JZZY010312 and 2021ZLGX01), the “20 Clauses about Colleges and Universities (new)” (Independent Training of Innovation Team) Program of Jinan (2021GXRC036), the Joint Laboratory Project of Electromagnetic Structure Technology (637-2022-70-F-037), and Qilu Young Scholar Program of Shandong University (31370082163127). The authors acknowledge the assistance of Shandong University Testing and Manufacturing Center for Advanced Materials.

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  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, CH-8093, Zurich, Switzerland

    Na Wu  (吴娜)

  2. Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution and Processing of Materials, Ministry of Education and School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, 250061, China

    Bin Li  (李宾), Runa Zhang  (张如娜), Jiurong Liu  (刘久荣) & Zhihui Zeng  (曾志辉)

  3. Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, Mattenstrasse 24a, BPR 1096, Basel, Switzerland

    Fei Pan  (潘飞)

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  1. Na Wu  (吴娜)
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  2. Bin Li  (李宾)
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Contributions

Wu N designed the work and engineered the samples; Wu N and Li B performed the experiments; Wu N and Li B performed the data analysis; Wu N, Li B, and Pan F wrote the paper with support from Zeng Z and Liu J; Wu N, Li B, and Zhang R contributed to the theoretical analysis. All authors contributed to the general discussion.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jiurong Liu  (刘久荣) or Zhihui Zeng  (曾志辉).

Additional information

Zhihui Zeng received his PhD degree in materials science and engineering from the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China in 2016. Following his work as a postdoctoral research fellow at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa), Switzerland, he currently works at Shandong University, China. His research interests include the design, fabrication and application of polymer-based nanocomposites, nanostructured assemblies, and cellular materials.

Jiurong Liu obtained his PhD degee from Osaka University in 2004. Then, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California at Los Angeles until 2008 before beginning his career as a full professor at the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University. His research interests include the synthesis of hybrid nanomaterials for energy storage and electromagnetic applications.

Na Wu obtained her PhD degree from the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, in 2021. Now, she works at ETH zurich as a postdoctoral fellow. Her research interests include the design and preparation of electromagnetic shielding materials.

Bin Li received his Bachelor’s degree from Qingdao University of Technology in 2019. He is currently pursuing his PhD degree under the supervision of Professor Jiurong Liu at Shandong University. His research interests focus on the design, fabrication, and application of electromagnetic functional materials.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Supplementary data are available in the online version of the paper.

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Ultrafine cellulose nanocrystal-reinforced MXene biomimetic composites for multifunctional electromagnetic interference shielding

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Wu, N., Li, B., Pan, F. et al. Ultrafine cellulose nanocrystal-reinforced MXene biomimetic composites for multifunctional electromagnetic interference shielding. Sci. China Mater. 66, 1597–1606 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-022-2279-3

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