Highly Conductive PEDOT Core-Shell Nanofiber for Electromagnetic Shielding with Ultraflexible and Lightweight.

Advanced electronic and communication devices require multifunctional miniaturization, high frequency band operating frequency and broadband. However, since electromagnetic waves emitted from these devices may adversely affect the operation of devices. To cope with EMI originated various electrical devices and components, development of high-performance electromagnetic interference shielding materials is urgently needed. However, there are only limited EMI shielding methods available which simultaneously satisfying high shield effectiveness, lightweight and flexibility. In order to fabricate such an ultra-thin multifunctional shielding material, we developed a high-performance shielding material using the flexibility of the nanofibers and the electrical conductivity by doping PEDOT on the electrospun PVDF nanofibers. The developed EMI shielding membrane is light-weighted, highly flexible, and conductive, providing high shielding effectiveness of ~ 40 dB at a thickness of 14 mm. Thus, considerably high specific shielding effectiveness per density (16232 dB cm2/g) can be achieved. The excellent EMI shielding effectiveness is attributed to the favorable porous structure in the hybrid nanofiber membrane. In addition, the resultant PVDF-PEDOT core-shell nanofiber membrane shows a reasonable mechanical strength and excellent flexibility. Furthermore, hydrophobic surface property can also useful for self-cleaning of the membrane surface. Consequently, the EMI shielding method introduced in this work can be used useful for various applications necessitating flexible and light-weighted EMI shielding materials.