Issue 3, 2011

Highly electrically conductive and high performance EMI shielding nanowire/polymer nanocomposites by miscible mixing and precipitation

Abstract

Metal nanowire/polymer nanocomposites are advanced materials for electrically conductive applications. Metal nanowires have high surface area, high aspect ratios, and high electrical conductivity, which are critical for the synthesis of conductive polymer nanocomposites using extremely low amounts of conductive filler. In this work, lightweight, thin, and highly conductive copper nanowire/polystyrene nanocomposites were prepared using a novel method of nanocomposite preparation termed miscible solvent mixing and precipitation (MSMP). Suspensions of high aspect ratio copper nanowires were mixed with polystyrene solutions to produce polymer nanocomposites with segregated nanowire networks resembling cell-like structures. Highly electrically conductive networks of nanowires were obtained beyond a percolation threshold of ϕc = 0.67 vol% and percolated nanocomposites showed electrical conductivities up to 104 S m−1, which exceeds the conductivity range generally reported for carbon nanofiller-based nanocomposites. The significant potential of these nanocomposites for electrical applications like electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding was further demonstrated. Metal nanowire/polymer nanocomposites sheets of 0.21 mm in thickness exhibited EMI SE of more than 20 dB for copper nanowire concentrations of only 1.3 vol%.

Graphical abstract: Highly electrically conductive and high performance EMI shielding nanowire/polymer nanocomposites by miscible mixing and precipitation

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
05 Aug 2010
Accepted
11 Oct 2010
First published
09 Nov 2010

J. Mater. Chem., 2011,21, 829-836

Highly electrically conductive and high performance EMI shielding nanowire/polymer nanocomposites by miscible mixing and precipitation

G. A. Gelves, M. H. Al-Saleh and U. Sundararaj, J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 829 DOI: 10.1039/C0JM02546A

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