Silver Nanowires Coated Nitrocellulose Paper for High-Efficiency Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

A thin and conductive coating on an environmentally friendly polymer is imperative for protecting sensitive electronic devices. In this regard, a series of silver nanowires (AgNWs) coated nitrocellulose (NC) papers are fabricated by a simple and fast processed vacuum-assisted filtration method by varying filtrate volume to address electromagnetic interference. Their structural and EMI shielding performance is analyzed. The submicron thick and the lighter paper reveal the conductive AgNWs interwoven on the rough NC surface, making a 2D in-planar structure. Due to a strongly interconnected network, the coated paper displays an exceptional electrical conductivity of 8603 S/m. Despite having a minimum AgNW coating thickness of ∼0.69 μm and an area density of 0.041 mg/cm², an ultrahigh EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) of about 69.4 dB (a specific EMI SE (SE/t) of 1005797 dB/cm) in the entire X-band (8-12 GHz) region is achieved. The effective material parameters, extracted using plane-wave theory, indicate that AgNWs form closed current loops resulting in magnetic losses. These AgNWs coated NC papers synthesized by a simple procedure are promising EMI shielding materials for current emerging electronic devices.