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Vol. 17 (2025)

Inter-Skeleton Conductive Routes Tuning Multifunctional Conductive Foam for Electromagnetic Interference Shielding, Sensing and Thermal Management

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-024-01540-z
Xufeng Li
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, People’s Republic of China
Chunyan Chen
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, People’s Republic of China
Zhenyang Li
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, People’s Republic of China
Peng Yi
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, People’s Republic of China
Haihan Zou
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, People’s Republic of China
Gao Deng
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, People’s Republic of China
Ming Fang
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, People’s Republic of China
Junzhe He
Science and Technology On Electromagnetic Scattering Laboratory, Beijing Institute of Environmental Features, Beijing 100854, People’s Republic of China
Xin Sun
Science and Technology On Electromagnetic Scattering Laboratory, Beijing Institute of Environmental Features, Beijing 100854, People’s Republic of China
Ronghai Yu
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, People’s Republic of China
Jianglan Shui
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, People’s Republic of China
Caofeng Pan
Institute of Atomic Manufacturing, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, People’s Republic of China
Xiaofang Liu
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Xiaofang Liu

liuxf05@buaa.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 17 (2025), Article Number: 52

Abstract

Conductive polymer foam (CPF) with excellent compressibility and variable resistance has promising applications in electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding and other integrated functions for wearable electronics. However, its insufficient change amplitude of resistance with compressive strain generally leads to a degradation of shielding performance during deformation. Here, an innovative loading strategy of conductive materials on polymer foam is proposed to significantly increase the contact probability and contact area of conductive components under compression. Unique inter-skeleton conductive films are constructed by loading alginate-decorated magnetic liquid metal on the polymethacrylate films hanged between the foam skeleton (denoted as AMLM-PM foam). Traditional point contact between conductive skeletons under compression is upgraded to planar contact between conductive films. Therefore, the resistance change of AMLM-PM reaches four orders of magnitude under compression. Moreover, the inter-skeleton conductive films can improve the mechanical strength of foam, prevent the leakage of liquid metal and increase the scattering area of EM wave. AMLM-PM foam has strain-adaptive EMI shielding performance and shows compression-enhanced shielding effectiveness, solving the problem of traditional CPFs upon compression. The upgrade of resistance response also enables foam to achieve sensitive pressure sensing over a wide pressure range and compression-regulated Joule heating function.


Highlights:
1 Unique inter-skeleton conductive films are constructed in polymer foam.
2 The resistance change of the foam can reach four orders of magnitude under compression.
3 This foam exhibits strain-adaptive electromagnetic interference shielding performance, anti-interference pressure sensor with high sensitivity over a wide pressure range and compression-regulated Joule heating function.

Keywords

Inter-skeleton conductive films Conductive polymer foam Liquid metal Electromagnetic interference shielding
Li, Xufeng, Chunyan Chen, Zhenyang Li, Peng Yi, Haihan Zou, Gao Deng, Ming Fang, Junzhe He, Xin Sun, Ronghai Yu, Jianglan Shui, Caofeng Pan, and Xiaofang Liu. 2024. “Inter-Skeleton Conductive Routes Tuning Multifunctional Conductive Foam for Electromagnetic Interference Shielding, Sensing and Thermal Management”. Nano-Micro Letters 17 (October):52. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-024-01540-z.
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