Preparation and Electromagnetic Shielding Properties of Hydrophobic Silver Nanowire/Cellulose Composite Paper

Hydrophobic silver nanowire/cellulose (H-AgNW/cellulose) composite paper was successfully fabricated via a facile and efficient dip-coating process and surface coating method by the assembly of AgNW and hydrophobic inorganic ceramic on cellulose paper. The results show that AgNW forms a dense conductive network on the surface of cellulose paper, which endows a high conductivity of the AgNW/cellulose composite paper under low filler loading. When dip-coating 10 times (AgNW volume fraction of 1.18%), the in-plane direction conductivity of the composite paper is as high as 33.69 S/cm. Owing to multiple reflection and scattering between two outer highly conductive surfaces, the obtained composite presents a high EMI shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) up to 40 dB against the X band (0.2 mm of the sample thickness). In addition, the external hydrophobic layers make the composite paper possess a fantastic surface water contact angle, to be as high as 140°, which exhibits an extraordinary waterproofness and antifouling performance, and effectively protects the oxidation of AgNW in the air environment. In a word, the prepared H-AgNW/cellulose composite paper is expected to be applied to electronic device shielding packaging with self-cleaning function in high humidity environment. © 2020, Editorial Board of Polymer Materials Science & Engineering. All right reserved.