Robust superhydrophobic and porous melamine-formaldehyde based composites for high-performance electromagnetic interference shielding

The high electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance composites with light-weight and multi-function have become the main developing orientation in the EMI shielding materials field. This study aims to fabricate lightweight melamine-formaldehyde-based composite (SiO 2 @Ag@MF) foams with high EMI shielding characteristics through facile and green electroless silver (Ag) plating and polydimethylsiloxane/SiO 2 (PDMS/SiO 2 ) coating methods. The results indicated that SiO 2 @Ag@MF foam possessed outstanding EMI shielding performance with the maximum shielding effectiveness ( SE T ) of 65 dB, low density (0.014–0.019 g/cm 3 ), and high specific shielding effectiveness ( SSE T ) of 3439 dB cm 3 g −1 due to the open-cell porous structure and high electroconductive Ag-plated skeleton. Meanwhile, because of the PDMS and SiO 2 coating, the composite foam delivers superhydrophobicity, anti-corrosion, and anti-fatigue performance.