Highly Conductive Ag/pCF/MVQ Composite Rubber for Efficient Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

In this study,flexible and highly conductive composite rubber at low filler content was successfully prepared through polydopamine-assisted electroless silver plating plus mechanical mixing.Firstly,carbon fibers(CF)were activated by polydopamine(PDA)to improve the surface activity by self-polymerization reaction.Next,because of the metal chelating ability of PDA,silver layer was firmly deposited on the surface of CF through a facile electroless silver plating method.Finally,flexible silver-plated carbon fibers(Ag/pCF)silicone rubber composites prepared by mechanical mixing.By using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS)and X-ray diffraction(XRD),the chemical composition and crystal structure of Ag/pCF were examined,and scanning electron microscopy(SEM)was used to assess the surface morphology of the Ag/pCF.The results showed that a uniform and dense silver layer was formed on the surface of the CF,and the conductivity of the Ag/pCF could reach 7885 S/cm.It was noteworthy that the composite rubber filled with only 45 phr Ag/pCF had a high electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness(100 dB)due to the low density and high aspect ratio of Ag/pCF.The composite rubber has excellent potential for application in the field of electromagnetic interference shielding.