Ultrathin, strong, and highly flexible Ti3C2Tx MXene/bacterial cellulose composite films for high-performance electromagnetic interference shielding

Abstract

The fabrication of ultrathin films that are electrically conductive and mechanically strong for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding applications is challenging. Herein, ultrathin, strong, and highly flexible Ti3C2Tx MXene/bacterial cellulose (BC) composite films are fabricated by a scalable in situ biosynthesis method. The Ti3C2Tx MXene nanosheets are uniformly dispersed in the three-dimensional BC network to form a mechanically entangled structure that endows the MXene/BC composite films with excellent mechanical properties (tensile strength of 297.5 MPa at 25.7 wt % Ti3C2Tx) and flexibility. Importantly, a 4 μm thick Ti3C2Tx/BC composite film with 76.9 wt % Ti3C2Tx content demonstrates a specific EMI shielding efficiency of 29141 dB cm2 g−1, which surpasses those of most previously reported MXene-based polymer composites with similar MXene contents and carbon-based polymer composites. Our findings show that the facile, environmentally friendly, and scalable fabrication method is a promising strategy for producing ultrathin, strong, and highly flexible EMI shielding materials such as the freestanding Ti3C2Tx/BC composite films for efficient EMI shielding to address EMI problems of a fast-developing modern society.