Lightweight polyurethane composite foam for electromagnetic interference shielding with high absorption...

Due to the rapid growth of electronic equipment technology, efficient electromagnetic shielding materials are needed for equipment and human protection. Among them, foam shielding materials with absorption as the primary mechanism have higher application value than highly reflective materials. Highly absorbing shielding materials can reduce the secondary pollution caused by electromagnetic wave reflection. In this study, we added Fe₃O₄@Polyvinyl alcohol (Fe₃O₄@PVA) and graphene oxide@silver (GO@Ag) into the polyurethane (PU) matrix and constructed Fe₃O₄@PVA and GO@Ag/PU composite foam by foaming. Fe₃O₄@PVA and GO@Ag form an excellent network structure in the PU foam skeleton, significantly improving its electromagnetic shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) and mechanical properties. The shielding effectiveness reached 30.9 dB with a specific EMI SE (SSE) of 274.9 dB × cm³ × g^-1 at a Fe₃O₄@PVA filling of 7 wt%, where the electromagnetic wave absorption accounted for more than 80 % of the total EMI SE, proving absorption as the primary shielding mechanism. The results show that Fe₃O₄, as a ferromagnet, has both the dielectric loss of ferroelectric materials and the hysteresis loss of ferromagnetic materials in electromagnetic shielding, effectively improving the wave absorption performance of composite shielding materials. Therefore, this work provides a promising idea for efficient and lightweight wave-absorbing shielding materials in aerospace, portable electronic devices and lightweight wearable devices.