Lightweight carbon foams with excellent electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance were prepared by carbonization process, using isocyanate-based polyimide foams as carbon precursors. The influence of carbonization temperature and graphene-doping on the morphological, electrical and EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) of corresponding carbon foams was studied in detail. Results showed that the addition of graphene was beneficial to the improvement of electrical conductivity and EMI shielding performance of carbon foams. The electrical conductivity of carbon foams increased with the carbonization temperature which was related to the increase of graphitization degree. Collapse of foam cells was observed at higher carbonization temperatures, which was detrimental to the overall EMI SE. The optimal carbonization temperature was found at 1100 °C and the carbon foams obtained from 0.5 wt% graphene-doped foams exhibited a specific EMI SE of 2886 dB/(g/cm3), which shows potential applications in fields such as aerospace, aeronautics and electronics.
Keywords: carbon foam; carbonization temperature; electromagnetic interference shielding; graphene; polyimide.