Fabrication and investigation on the PANI/MWCNT/thermally annealed graphene aerogel/epoxy electromagnetic interference shielding nanocomposites

After ultrasonic dispersion of graphene oxide (GO) prepared by modified Hummers method and surface carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (f-MWCNT), L-ascorbic acid was added and the MWCNT/thermally annealed graphene aerogel (MWCNT/TAGA) was obtained by thermal annealing. Polyaniline/MWCNT/TAGA (PANT/MWCNT/TAGA) was prepared by slow adding ammonium persulfate into aniline/hydrochloric acid solution containing MWCNT/TAGA. The corresponding PANI/MWCNT/TAGA/epoxy electromagnetic interference shielding nanocomposites were successfully fabricated via template-casting method. Results revealed that when the mass ratio of GO to f-MWCNT was 3:1 and the total loading of PANI/MWCNT/TAGA was 4.61 wt% (2.58 wt 0 /0 PANI + 0.83 wt% MWCNT + 1.20 wt% TAGA), the obtained PANI/MWCNT/TAGA/epoxy electromagnetic interference shielding nanocomposites presented the highest electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE, 42 dB). Meanwhile, the corresponding PANI/MWCNT/TAGA/epoxy electromagnetic interference shielding nanocomposites showed electrical conductivity of 52.1 S/cm heat resistance index (T-HRI) of 171.3 degrees C, and reduced modulus of 5.35 GPa & hardness of 0.39 GPa.