Ultrathin absorption-dominated PAN-derived porous carbon membranes enabled by Fe(acac)3 for efficient EMI shielding

Lightweight, ultrathin, and absorption-dominated electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials are highly desired to alleviate secondary electromagnetic pollution caused by conventional reflection-dominated shielding materials. Herein, Fe(acac) 3 -assisted PAN-derived porous carbon membranes were fabricated through nonsolvent-induced phase separation (NIPS), freeze-drying, and high-temperature carbonization to achieve efficient absorption-dominated EMI shielding performance. The interconnected porous conductive carbon framework facilitated the dissipation of incident electromagnetic waves by providing continuous conductive channels and abundant internal scattering interfaces. Different Fe(acac) 3 contents were introduced to evaluate their influence on graphitization degree, electrical conductivity, and EMI shielding performance. Notably, with only 1 wt% Fe(acac) 3 loading, the obtained C-P-P/AcFe-2 membrane with a thickness of only 0.42 mm exhibited the best overall shielding performance, including an electrical conductivity of 7.12 S mm −1 , exhibiting an average EMI shielding effectiveness of 94.9 dB and a corresponding SE A value of 80.2 dB in the X-band. The SE A /SE R ratio reached 5.5, indicating obvious absorption-dominated shielding behavior. Meanwhile, the SSE t value reached 4013.4 dB cm 2 g −1 , demonstrating its lightweight shielding capability. This work provides a feasible approach for developing lightweight, ultrathin, low-filler-loading, and absorption-dominated EMI shielding materials. Download: Download high-res image (272KB) Download: Download full-size image A lightweight and ultrathin porous carbon membrane was developed by introducing Fe(acac) 3 as a molecular-level precursor to construct an interconnected conductive network and magnetic components. The optimized membrane achieves absorption-dominated EMI shielding with a shielding effectiveness of 94.9 dB and an absorption contribution of 80.2 dB at a thickness of only 0.42 mm.