Overcoming the Incompatibility Between Electrical Conductivity and Electromagnetic Transmissivity: A Graphene Glass Fiber Fabric Design Strategy

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) Vol. 36; no. 24; pp. e2313752 - n/a
• Main Authors: Huang, Kewen, Liang, Fushun, Sun, Jianbo, Zhang, Qinchi, Li, Zhihao, Cheng, Shuting, Li, Wenjuan, Yuan, Hao, Liu, Ruojuan, Ge, Yunsong, Cheng, Yi, Wang, Kun, Jiang, Jun, Yang, Yuyao, Ma, Mingyang, Yang, Fan, Tu, Ce, Xie, Qin, Yin, Wanjian, Wang, Xiaobai, Qi, Yue, Liu, Zhongfan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.06.2024
• Subjects: Chemical vapor deposition; Decoupling; Dielectric strength; Electric heating; Electrical resistivity; Electromagnetic properties; Electromagnetic radiation; Glass fibers; Graphene; graphene glass fiber fabric; high electrical conductivity; high electromagnetic transmissivity; Incompatibility; Macrostructure; Reflectance; Transmissivity; Wave reflection; graphene glass fiber fabric; high electrical conductivity; high electromagnetic transmissivity; chemical vapor deposition
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.202313752

Conventional conductive materials such as metals are crucial functional components of conductive systems in diverse electronic instruments. However, their severe intrinsic impedance mismatch with air dielectric causes strong reflection of incident electromagnetic waves, and the resulting low electromagnetic transmissivity typically interferes with surrounding electromagnetic signal communications in modern multifunction‐integrated instruments. Herein, graphene glass fiber fabric (GGFF) that merges intrinsic electrical and electromagnetic properties of graphene with dielectric attributes and highly porous macrostructure of glass fiber fabric (GFF) is innovatively developed. Using a novel decoupling chemical vapor deposition growth strategy, high‐quality and layer‐limited graphene is prepared on noncatalytic nonmetallic GFF in a controlled manner; this is pivotal to realizing GGFF with the desired compatibility among high conductivity, low electromagnetic reflectivity, and high electromagnetic transmissivity. At the same sheet resistance over a wide range of values (250–3000 Ω·sq−1), the GGFF exhibits significantly lower electromagnetic reflectivity (by 0.42–0.51) and higher transmissivity (by 0.27–0.62) than those of its metal‐based conductive counterpart (CuGFF). The material design strategy reported herein provides a constructive solution to eliminate the incompatibility between electrical conductivity and electromagnetic transmissivity faced by conventional conductive materials, spotlighting the applicability of GGFF in electric heating scenarios in radar, antenna, and stealth systems. Graphene glass fiber fabric is innovatively fabricated through the first‐developed decoupling chemical vapor deposition growth strategy to controllably prepare high‐quality, layer‐limited graphene on the non‐catalytic nonmetallic GFF, through which the desired compatibility of electrical conductivity and EM transmissivity can be realized; thus, helping get rid of the electrical conductivity–electromagnetic transmissivity‐incompatible dilemma suffered by conventional conductive materials effectively.