Multilayer polymeric nanocomposite thin film heater and electromagnetic interference shield

An unprecedented highly transparent glass heater and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shield is fabricated, using a layer-by-layer assembly of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and silver nanowires (AgNWs) to replace both the conventional indium tin oxide (ITO) and other metal- and carbon-based electrodes proposed to date. The novel simple fabrication of the electrode, unlike many other reported technologies, does not require any vacuum or chemical vapor deposition, hot pressing, pulsed laser irradiation, UV-lithography, and electroplating. The ∼ 80 nm layered thin film offers an exceptionally high figure-of-merit of 610 with a low sheet resistance of 6.4 Ω sq–1 and a total EMI shielding of 23 dB, attenuating 99.5% of the incident electromagnetic waves in the X-band frequency range at high optical transparency of 91%. The transparent heater, sandwiched between two ∼ 2.5 mm glass substrates, shows promising Joule heating performance when successfully de-ices a 2 mm ice in less than a minute while maintained under a sub-zero temperature of – 10 °C. A numerical heat transfer model is also developed to assess the temperature profile distribution and confirm the de-icing time.