Nacre-Inspired MXene-Based Films with High-Performance Electrical, Mechanical, and Electrothermal Functionality

The concurrent enhancement of mechanical robustness and electrical conductivity in flexible conductors is fundamentally restricted by conventional solution processing, as residual porosity and disordered architectures severely disrupt stress and charge transport. Here, we report an integrated vacuum filtration and thermomechanical pressing strategy that accurately regulates LM content and triggers structural densification in nacre-inspired MXene/bacterial cellulose architectures. Specifically, vacuum filtration rapidly consolidates the hybrid network to preserve the spatial homogeneity of the constituent blocks, while subsequent thermomechanical compression rheologically activates the LM as a structural lubricant to minimize frictional barriers, driving the lateral reorientation of MXene flakes into a densified, aligned architecture. The compression forces fluidic LM into structural voids, healing assembly defects and physically isolating the LM to suppress oxidation. Consequently, this synergistic reorganization yields composite films with an exceptional combination of tensile strength (563 MPa), electrical conductivity (1.8 × 105 S·m–1), specific electromagnetic shielding (>2.5 × 104 dB·cm2·g–1), and stable low-voltage Joule heating. This precise and scalable methodology offers a generalizable paradigm to resolve the mechanical-electrical conflict in multifunctional flexible electronics.