Transformation from Electromagnetic Inflection to Absorption of Silicone Rubber and Accordion-Shaped Ti3C2MXene Composites by Highly Electric Conductive Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Polymers (Basel). 2023 May 17;15(10):2332. doi: 10.3390/polym15102332.

Abstract

Electromagnetic (EM) pollution becomes more penetrating in daily life and work due to more convenience provided by multi-electrical devices, as does secondary pollution caused by electromagnetic reflection. EM wave absorption material with less reflection is a good solution to absorb unavoidable EM radiation or reduce it from the source. Filled with two-dimensional Ti3SiC2MXenes, silicone rubber (SR)composite demonstrated a good electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of 20 dB in the X band by melt-mixing processes for good conductivity of more than 10-3 S/cm and displayed dielectric properties and a low magnetic permeability; however, the reflection loss was only -4 dB. By the combination of one-dimensional highly electric conductive multi-walled carbon nanotubes (HEMWCNTs) and MXenes, the composites achieved the transformation from electromagnetic inflection to an excellent absorbing performance to reach a minimum reflection loss of -30.19 dB due to electric conductivity of above 10-4 S/cm, a higher dielectric constant, and more loss in both dielectric and magnetic properties. Ni-added multi-walled carbon nanotubes were not able to achieve the transformation. The as-prepared SR/HEMWCNT/MXene composites have potential application prospects in protective layers, which can be used for electromagnetic wave absorption, electromagnetic interference suppression of devices, and stealth of the equipment.

Keywords: Ti3C2MXenes; electromagnetic inflection; electromagnetic wave absorption; highly electric conductive multi-walled carbon nanotubes.