Self-healable and super-stretchable conductive elastomeric nanocomposites for efficient thermal management characteristics and electromagnetic interference shielding

Due to the pressing need to mitigate current electromagnetic wave pollution (connecting to the 5 G era), lightweight, stretchable, thermally, and electrically conductive nanocomposite materials have attracted significant scientific interest. Herein, self-healable carboxylated nitrile butadiene elastomeric (XNBR) based nanocomposites were fabricated via sequential wet cum melt mixing technique utilizing multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). The metal-ligand complexes in the XNBR elastomer chain endow a reversible network that leads to self-healing ability. The higher aspect ratio of MWCNTs assists in constructing interconnected conductive pathways inside the XNBR matrix. The nanocomposite with MWCNTs (15 phr) provided an excellent EMI shielding effectiveness of − 27.4 dB, whereas the nanocomposite exhibited a thermal conductivity of 0.85 W.m−1. K−1. Interestingly, the interconnected networking pathway of MWCNTs in the XNBR matrix prepared a tunable analogical structure providing an absorption-dominant shielding mechanism. Under severe practical and environmental testing conditions, the nanocomposites showed a minute change in electromagnetic effectiveness, demonstrating their good performance for outdoor applications. These ultra-lightweight, self-healable, recyclable MWCNTs/ XNBR EMI shields are promising materials for next-generation super-stretchable and portable smart electronics.