Thermally welded honeycomb-like silver nanowires aerogel backfilled with polydimethylsiloxane for electromagnetic interference shielding

Honeycomb-like silver nanowires (AgNWs) aerogel is constructed via a convenient ice template method and further thermally welded, followed by backfilling with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to obtain AgNWs/PMDS elastomer. A high electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness (SE) of 74.7 dB (8.2 GHz) can be achieved in the elastomer with a low AgNWs content of 3.08 wt% and a thin thickness of 1 mm owing to welding and well-aligned pores structure of AgNWs skeleton. Also, the shielding performance of the elastomer displays negligible change after 1000 bending and stretching cycles. These traits underscore the great potential of the AgNWs/PMDS elastomer in today's flexible electronics. (c) 2020 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated summary

A honeycomb-like silver nanowires aerogel was constructed using an ice template method, followed by thermal welding and backfilling with PDMS to obtain an AgNWs/PMDS elastomer, which exhibited high EMI shielding effectiveness with a low AgNWs content and thin thickness. The shielding performance remained stable even after 1000 bending and stretching cycles, highlighting the great potential of this material in flexible electronics applications.