Fabrication and investigation on the ultra-thin and flexible Ti₃C₂T_x/co-doped polyaniline electromagnetic interference shielding composite films

Polyaniline (PANI) was co-doped using dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid (DBSA) and hydrochloric acid (HCl), and few-layered Ti₃C₂T_x was prepared via ionic intercalation followed by sonication-assisted method. Then the Ti₃C₂T_x/co-doped PANI (Ti₃C₂T_x/c-PANI) electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding composite films were prepared by vacuum assisted filtration. FTIR, XPS, XRD, and Raman indicated that c-PANI was successfully synthesized. XRD, SEM, AFM, and TEM revealed the successful preparation of few-layered Ti₃C₂T_x. The electrical conductivity, EMI shielding effectiveness (EMI SE), and tensile strength of the Ti₃C₂T_x/c-PANI EMI shielding composite films were all increased with increasing the mass fraction of Ti₃C₂T_x. When the mass ratio of Ti₃C₂T_x to c-PANI was 7:1, the thickness of Ti₃C₂T_x/c-PANI composite film was only 40 μm. And the corresponding electrical conductivity, EMI SE, and tensile strength were significantly enhanced to 24.4 S/cm, 36 dB, and 19.9 MPa, which were 81, 2.3, and 7.7 times those of pure c-PANI film (0.3 S/cm, 16 dB, and 2.6 MPa), respectively. Our fabricated Ti₃C₂T_x/c-PANI EMI shielding composite films present potential applications in the high-tech fields with demand for ultrathin, lightweight, and flexible EMI shielding materials.