Tough and durable silver-plated graphene oxide/polyurethane composite foam for efficient electromagnetic shielding

With the rapid development of modern information technology, electromagnetic wave has become a new type of pollution source, so there is an urgent need for an efficient electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding material to control electromagnetic pollution. Among them, EMI shielding materials in many fields are required to be lightweight, efficient and durable. In this study, silver-plated graphene oxide (GO@Ag) is added as a conductive filler to the polyurethane (PU) matrix, and a composite EMI shielding material with excellent conductive network structure is obtained through co-foaming. Conductive network structure provides high EMI shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) and good mechanical properties for composite shielding materials. When the content of GO@Ag is 15%, the EMI SE reaches 29.4 dB, and the specific EMI SE (SSE) reaches 237.9 dB×cm3 ×g−1. Reflection is the main shielding mechanism of composite shielding materials. Good conductivity makes the shielding materials and air impedance mismatched. When electromagnetic waves contact the shielding materials, the reflection effect will occur. Furthermore, this work provides a new research direction for EMI shielding in the fields of aerospace, precision electronics and lightweight equipment.