Enabling Remarkable Electromagnetic and Thermal Management via Bioinspired Structural Design of Heterodimensional Carbon Hybrid Aerogels

The integration of advanced electronic systems demands multifunctional materials that combine effective electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding with efficient thermal management. Inspired by the hierarchical architecture of biological vascular networks, this study presents a bioinspired heterodimensional carbon hybrid aerogel to address the long-standing challenge of simultaneously achieving high EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) and high thermal conductivity in polymer composites at low filler loadings. A tube-in-tube (TIT) carbon nanotube structure, serving as a long-range, high-crystallinity “artery”, was constructed via a template method to provide multiple internal/external channels for efficient phonon and charge transport while enhancing interfacial polarization. This 1D backbone was further integrated with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and vertical edge-rich graphene (ERG) nanosheets within a 3D skeleton, forming a dense “capillary” network that bridges the filler-matrix interfaces, minimizes thermal/electrical contact resistance, and promotes uniform energy dissipation. Through synergistic internal and edge defect engineering, the resulting rGO-TIT-ERG/epoxy composite achieves an exceptional EMI SE of 63.92 dB and a thermal conductivity of 2.55 W/(m·K) at an ultralow filler content of 2.98 wt.%. This work demonstrates a rational biomimetic design strategy for developing lightweight, multifunctional composites for next-generation electronic packaging and thermal management applications.