Silver nanowires decorated recycled cigarette filters based epoxy composites with high through-plane thermal conductivity and efficient electromagnetic interference shielding

The disposal of cigarette filters (CF) consisted of non-biodegradable cellulose acetate gives rise to severe environmental contamination. In an endeavor to transfer destructive refuse to wealth, hence, we prepare the silver nanowires (AgNWs) decorated on the cellulose microfibres derived from the CF skeleton by the dip-coating method to ameliorate the through-plane thermal conductivity and electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) of epoxy composites. The resultant composites reach the through-plane thermal conductivity of 1.71 W·m−1·K−1 at the AgNWs loading of 2.8 vol%. The AgNWs@CF10/epoxy composite reveals the EMI SE value of 40 dB. The heat-dissipating evaluation indicates the outstanding rate of heating or cooling of the composite owning to the excellent heat transferability. This facile approach paves the way for the fabrication of a highly thermoconductive material with excellent EMI shielding for thermal-management applications.