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High-strain-sensitive dynamically adjustable electromagnetic interference shielding elastomer with pre-linked nickel chains

基于预连接镍链的高应变敏感度动态可调电磁干扰屏蔽弹性体

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Abstract

Smart electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials with dynamic adjustable shielding performances are attractive, which however still suffer from complicated preparation, large thickness, inconvenient trigger mode, and relatively narrow adjustment range. Here, the off/on switchable EMI shielding elastomers are developed via precisely dispersing the spiked Ni microparticles (diameter: 2–3 µm) into polydimethylsiloxane matrix. By the gentle stir under low speed (300 r min−1) for a short time (3 min), the Ni particles could form irregular clusters as short chains, which approach being linked together but still maintain tiny gaps (<3 µm) among them, showing a unique pre-linked-chains arrangement. The original elastomers show good impedance matching and low dielectric loss, allowing most EM waves to pass through. The stretching force presses the short pre-linked Ni chains to form massive microscale conductive paths inside (enlarge ∼6 orders of the original conductivity at 20% strain), which significantly enhance the capability of conduction loss and therefore trigger strong EMI shielding ability. The elastomer exhibits continuously and reversibly variable EMI shielding performances (∼35 dB for a 0.3 mm single film, ∼55 dB for the sandwich design) during mechanical stretching and releasing by 0–20% strain. In addition, the applicability of the smart EMI shielding elastomer is demonstrated by a wireless strain sensing system, which shows the possibility for the wearable smart EMI shielding to monitor human body motion precisely.

摘要

具有动态可调电磁屏蔽性能的电磁干扰屏蔽材料备受关注, 但其目前仍然存在制备复杂、厚度大、触发方式不便、调节范围窄等缺点. 我们通过将尖刺镍微粒精确地分散到聚二甲基硅氧烷基体中形成预连接的链状结构, 制备出了具有可开关电磁屏蔽性能的弹性体材料.弹性体在机械拉伸和释放过程中表现出连续和可逆的电磁干扰屏蔽性能. 原始弹性体具有良好的阻抗匹配和低介电损耗, 允许大部分电磁波通过. 拉伸使预连接的短链彼此接触, 在内部形成大量的微尺度导电网络, 显著增强了电导损耗能力, 实现了较强的电磁干扰屏蔽能力. 此外,我们通过无线应变传感系统验证了智能电磁干扰屏蔽弹性体的应用潜力, 证明了可穿戴智能电磁干扰屏蔽精确监测人体运动的可能性.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52105576, 22105106, 22005151, and 62288102), the Open Project Program of the State Key Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing Equipment and Technology (DMETKF2021010), the open research fund of the National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of RF Integration and Micro-Assembly Technology (KFJJ20210201), the general project of Natural Science Research in Colleges and Universities of Jiangsu Province (21KJB460017), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China (BK20210603), and the Start-up Funding sponsored by Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NY221003, NY220124). The general characterization facilities are provided by the National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of RF Integration and Micro-Assembly Technology at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications.

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  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Electronic and Optical Engineering & College of Flexible Electronics (Future Technology), National and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of RF Integration and Micro-Assembly Technology, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Jing Bian  (卞敬), Xiang Zhou  (周翔), Xianjun Zhu  (朱先军), Jianmin Li  (李建民) & Qiang Zhao  (赵强)

  2. State Key Laboratory of Organic Electronics and Information Displays & Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Biosensors, Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Nanjing University of Posts & Telecommunications, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Xingcheng Zhou  (周兴成), Linfeng Ma  (马林峰), Shujuan Liu  (刘淑娟) & Qiang Zhao  (赵强)

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  1. Jing Bian  (卞敬)
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  2. Xingcheng Zhou  (周兴成)
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  3. Xiang Zhou  (周翔)
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  4. Linfeng Ma  (马林峰)
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  6. Jianmin Li  (李建民)
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Contributions

Author contributions Bian J, Zhou X, and Zhao Q conceived the idea for this work and designed the experiments. Zhou X performed the experiments. Zhou X and Ma L contributed to the implementation of the experiments and the measurements. Bian J, Zhou X, and Li J wrote the manuscript. Zhu X, Liu S, and Zhao Q revised the manuscript and provided some suggestions. All authors contributed to the general discussion.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jianmin Li  (李建民) or Qiang Zhao  (赵强).

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Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

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

Jing Bian obtained his BS and PhD degrees from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) in 2015 and 2020, respectively. He joined Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications in 2020. His current research interests focus on laser-based heterogeneous integration techniques for flexible electronics and smart electromagnetic materials and structures.

Xingcheng Zhou received his BS degree from China University of Mining and Technology in 2020. Currently, he is pursuing his MS degree under the supervision of Prof. Qiang Zhao at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications. His current research interests focus on smart electromagnetic interference shielding materials and applications.

Jianmin Li obtained his BS and PhD degrees from Donghua University in 2014 and 2019, respectively. From 2017 to 2018, he worked as a joint PhD student at A.J. Drexel Nanomaterials Institute, Drexel University. He joined the National University of Singapore as a postdoctoral researcher in 2019. He is now a professor at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications. His research interests focus on the applications in terahertz and millimeters, electrochromism, and energy storage.

Qiang Zhao received his PhD degree in 2007 from Fudan University. He then became a postdoctoral fellow at Nagoya University of Japan. He joined Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications in 2008. He was promoted as full professor in 2010. His research area is organic optoelectronics, including the design, synthesis, and excitedstate tuning of organic semiconductors for applications in optoelectronic devices and biomedical fields.

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High-strain-sensitive dynamically adjustable electromagnetic interference shielding elastomer with pre-linked nickel chains

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Bian, J., Zhou, X., Zhou, X. et al. High-strain-sensitive dynamically adjustable electromagnetic interference shielding elastomer with pre-linked nickel chains. Sci. China Mater. 67, 629–641 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-023-2712-6

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