Lightweight and easily foldable with high conductivity, multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-based mesocarbon microbead (MCMB) composite paper is prepared using a simple, efficient, and cost-effective strategy. The developed lightweight and conductive composite paper have been reported for the first time as an efficient electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding material in X-band frequency region having a low density of 0.26 g/cm(3). The investigation revealed that composite paper shows an excellent absorption dominated EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) of -31 to -56 dB at 0.15-0.6 mm thickness, respectively. Specific EMI-SE of as high as -215 dB cm(3)/g exceeds the best values of metal and other low-density carbon-based composites. Additionally, lightweight and easily foldable ability of this composite paper will help in providing stable EMI shielding values even after constant bending. Such intriguing performances open the framework to designing a lightweight and easily foldable composite paper as promising EMI shielding material, especially in next-generation devices and for defense industries.
Keywords: EMI shielding; MCMB; MWCNTs; composites; flexible paper; low density.