Aramid nanofiber assisted preparation of 3D-oriented graphite/silicone composite slices with high through-plane thermal conductivity and efficient electromagnetic interference shielding

High-performance electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials with outstanding thermal transfer ability are urgently needed for modern electronics. Here, efficient 3D-oriented graphite/silicone EMI shielding composite slices with high through-plane thermal conductivity were prepared through the construction of 3D -oriented graphite skeletons followed by incorporation of silicone and cutting. The flaky graphite was utilized as functional fillers, and an ultra-low addition of aramid nanofibers (ANFs) was conducted to construct the supporting frameworks to maintain the structure of 3D-oriented graphite skeletons. The strategy of constructing of 3D-oriented graphite skeletons before incorporating of silicone facilitated the forming of efficient electrically conductive network and thermal transfer pathway in the prepared composite slices. The differences in thermal, electrical and EMI shielding properties that originated from the orientation of interconnected flaky graphite were systematically studied. As a result, the composite slices show significant enhancements of EMI SE of 65.28 dB in X-band, 76.62 dB in Ka-band and through-plane thermal conductivity of 10.53 W m-1 K-1 at the graphite fraction of 32.68 vol%. Additionally, the composite slices exhibit a good near-field (NF) shielding performance at the frequency range of 1-9 GHz. The composite slices reveal substantial potential for advanced EMI shielding and thermal management applications.