Interfacial metallization in segregated poly (lactic acid)/poly (ε-caprolactone)/multi-walled carbon nanotubes composites for enhancing electromagnetic interference shielding

• Published in: Composites. Part A, Applied science and manufacturing Vol. 139; p. 106116
• Main Authors: Tang, Xiao-Hong, Tang, Yi, Wang, Ye, Weng, Yun-Xuan, Wang, Ming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2020
• Subjects: A. Polymer-matrix composites (PMCs); B. Electrical properties; B. Interface/interphase; E. Compression moulding; A. Polymer-matrix composites (PMCs); B. Electrical properties; E. Compression moulding; B. Interface/interphase
• ISSN: 1359-835X; 1878-5840
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2020.106116

[Display omitted] •Highly conductive interfaces were achieved in the segregated composites via Ag plating.•The multiple scattering and interfacial polarization was enhanced by the Ag coated interfaces.•The interfacial-metallized segregated composites showed 35% enhancement on EMI SE.•Both the segregated structure and interfacial metallization was important to enhance EMI SE.•The reflection of microwaves was enhanced in the metallized segregated composites. Segregated structure was one of the effective approaches to improve electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance of conductive polymer composites. Herein, highly conductive interfaces were constructed by coating silver nanoparticles on the surface of poly (lactic acid) (PLLA) particles in the conventional segregated (CS) PLLA/poly(ε-caprolactone)/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (PLLA/PCLNT) composites to form the interface-metallized segregated (IMS) composites. Expectedly, the EMI SE of IMS composites were superior to that of the CS composites with the same MWCNTs loadings. Specifically, the IMS composites with only 0.44 vol% silver achieved an excellent EMI SE of 43.3 dB which was 35% higher than the CS composites (32.1 dB). Furthermore, the EMI SE value of the IMS composites decreased drastically after destroying the segregated structure. Therefore, the EMI SE of the IMS composites was related to both segregated structure and highly conductive interfaces, which could enhance multiple scattering, interfacial polarization and electron hopping at the interfaces.