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Thermoplastic polyurethane–graphene nanoplatelets microcellular foams for electromagnetic interference shielding

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Abstract

The incorporation of graphene-related materials as nanofiller can produce multifunctional foams with enhanced specific properties and density reduction. Herein we report on the preparation of microcellular thermoplastic polyurethane/graphene foams by batch foaming. Solution blending was first adopted to disperse graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) in the elastomeric matrix. Then, a foaming process based on the use of supercritical CO2 was adopted to produce the microcellular TPU/GNP composite foams with graphene content up to 1 wt%. The EMI shielding behaviour of the TPU/GNP foams has been assessed in the THz range, and has revealed their potential in comparison with other graphene-filled foams presented in the literature, that exhibit similar specific shielding effectiveness but at much higher content of graphene-related materials (10–30 wt%).

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Data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This activity has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No GrapheneCore3 881603. The authors acknowledge also the financial support of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) under the project “TERA”.

Funding

This study was funded by EU (Graphene Core 3 Grant Number 881603) and by INFN (project TERA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Stadiou St., Platani, 26504, Patras, Greece

    Maria Giovanna Pastore Carbone, Anastasios C. Manikas, Nikolaos Koutroumanis & Costas Galiotis

  2. ESPCI Paris, CNRS, PSL University, 10 Rue Vauquelin, 75005, Paris, France

    Maxime Beaugendre & Costas Galiotis

  3. INFN Naples Unit, 80126, Naples, Italy

    Can Koral & Antonello Andreone

  4. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Patras, 26504, Patras, Greece

    Anastasios C. Manikas

  5. Department of Physics, University of Naples “Federico II”, 80125, Naples, Italy

    Gian Paolo Papari & Antonello Andreone

  6. Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, dei Materiali e della Produzione Industriale, University of Naples “Federico II”, 80125, Naples, Italy

    Ernesto Di Maio

Authors
  1. Maria Giovanna Pastore Carbone
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  2. Maxime Beaugendre
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  3. Can Koral
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  4. Anastasios C. Manikas
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  5. Nikolaos Koutroumanis
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  6. Gian Paolo Papari
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  7. Antonello Andreone
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  8. Ernesto Di Maio
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  9. Costas Galiotis
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Correspondence to Maria Giovanna Pastore Carbone.

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Pastore Carbone, M.G., Beaugendre, M., Koral, C. et al. Thermoplastic polyurethane–graphene nanoplatelets microcellular foams for electromagnetic interference shielding. Graphene Technol 5, 33–39 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41127-020-00034-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41127-020-00034-0

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