Flexible and efficient electromagnetic interference shielding materials from ground tire rubber

Low-cost flexible EMI shielding materials have great market potential due to the rapid development of flexible electronics such as wearable health monitoring systems, flexible displays, and flexible power supply systems. Here, by fully exploiting its three-dimensional (3D) cross-linked structure, the ground tire rubber (GTR) in industrial waste was converted into a valuable and high-performance electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding material. A carbon nanotube (CNT)/GTR composite with typical segregated structure was designed, with CNTs selectively localized at the boundaries of GTR domains. The composite containing only 5.0 wt% CNT exhibits a high electrical conductivity of 109.3 S/m and an EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) of 66.9 dB, superior to most of the reported CNT/polymer composites. Additionally, the CNT/GTR composite shows excellent flexibility and stability with 93% retention of EMI SE even after repeatedly bending to the radius of 2.0 mm for 5000 times. Our flexible EMI shielding material will benefit the fast-growing next-generation flexible electronic devices by providing low cost and reliable protection. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.