Fabrication and characterization of the flexible three-layered thin film composites based on MXene/Fe3O4/MWCNT for electromagnetic shielding applications

Abstract

Our research demonstrates the practical implementation of using multilayer (three layers) composites for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. Three layers are: (1) The composites of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT)/ carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) as the bottom layer; (2) The composites of MWCNT/CMC/iron oxide (Fe₃O₄) particles as the middle layer; (3) The composites of MXene/MWCNT/CMC/Fe₃O₄ as the top layer. Composition of each layer was optimized in order to maximize the electromagnetic properties of each layer. Each composite layer has outstanding electrical conductivity and excellent EMI shielding performance. The multilayer exhibits an EMI SE_T of 48 dB, SE_A of more than 33 dB, and low SE_R of 15 dB in the X-band frequencies range, significantly enhanced compared to the single-layered materials for EMI applications.