Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Performance of Flexible, Hydrophobic Honeycomb-Structured Ag@Ti3C2Tx Composites

Novel honeycomb-structured Ag@Ti3C2Tx composites are prepared by a microwave-assisted synthesis method using polymethyl methacrylate as an expendable template. The resulting Ag@Ti3C2Tx composites retain their original spherical morphology and exhibit hydrophobic performance, low thermal conductivity, and excellent electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance. Remarkably, the Ag-1.8@Ti3C2Tx composite attains electromagnetic interference shielding performance with a maximum average shielding effectiveness of 39.36 dB in the X-band and 43.64 dB in the K-u-band. This outstanding performance is the result of conduction loss, interface polarization between Ag nanoparticles and Ti3C2Tx nanosheets, and multi-reflection and scattering caused by the hollow structure in the honeycomb-structured Ag@Ti3C2Tx composites. Overall, the honeycomb-structured Ag@Ti3C2Tx composites possess merits such as light weight, flexibility, hydrophobicity, and EMI shielding performance, suggesting great application potential in smart electronic devices.