3D printing nanocomposites with enhanced mechanical property and excellent electromagnetic wave absorption capability via the introduction of ZIF-derivative modified carbon fibers

Through in-situ synthesis and thermal annealing, ZIF-derived nanoarrays were introduced to the surface of carbon fibers. The resulting modified carbon fibers (CoNC@CF) with the hierarchical nanostructure showed excellent electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption capabilities, and were applied to 3D printing technology with polylactic acid (PLA) as the matrix. The CoNC@CF-PLA composites exhibited favorable 3D printability in comprehensive analysis, permitting the nanocomposite to be formed into complex structure as model designed. With the conduction loss , interface and dipole polarization and magnetic loss provided by CoNC@CF, the nanocomposites containing 10 wt% CoNC@CF displayed superior electromagnetic wave absorption capability. The minimum reflection loss value reached −45.5 dB at 11.5 GHz with a thickness of 2.9 mm. The introduction of CoNC@CF enhanced the mechanical properties of 3D printing PLA parts. After 30 s of microwave processing, the tensile strength of 3D printing PLA nanocomposites can be further enhanced. The CoNC@CF simultaneously improved the microwave absorption and mechanical properties of 3D printing nanocomposites parts. Thus, it provided a new efficient approach for preparation of structure-designable nanocomposites with integration of desired mechanical and electromagnetic wave absorption properties through 3D printing technology.