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Protective Carbon Aerogels Derived from Leather Solid Waste for High Electromagnetic Interference Shielding and
Bin Lyu1,2,3, Junle Li1,2,3, Zhuo Guo1,2,3
1College of Bioresources Chemical and Materials Engineering, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi'an 710021, China.
Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids
|April 7, 2026
Summary
This study developed a novel carbon aerogel from leather waste, offering superior electromagnetic shielding, thermal management, and infrared stealth. The material demonstrates excellent performance for advanced protection applications.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Sustainable Chemistry
Background:
- Carbon aerogels are promising for multifunctional protection due to their lightweight and porous nature.
- Existing carbon aerogels face challenges in simultaneously achieving robust electromagnetic attenuation, thermal management, and infrared stealth.
- Leather waste presents an underutilized resource for developing advanced materials.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a multifunctional carbon aerogel integrating electromagnetic shielding and thermal management.
- To utilize collagen fibers from leather waste for creating a novel aerogel structure.
- To investigate the electromagnetic, thermal, and infrared stealth properties of the fabricated aerogel.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of carbon aerogels using collagen fibers (CFs) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) via hydrogen-bond-driven assembly and high-temperature carbonization.
- Loading of molybdenum disulfide-coated silver nanowires (AgNWs@MoS2) nanoparticles through cyclic impregnation.
- Characterization of electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE), microwave absorption, thermal retention, infrared stealth, and solar-to-thermal conversion.
Main Results:
- The developed CFs/AgNWs@MoS2 Carbon (CAMC) aerogel achieved high EMI SE (72.1 dB) and low reflectivity (~0.27).
- Excellent microwave absorption was observed with minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of -48.77 dB and effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 4.01 GHz.
- The aerogel exhibited superior heat retention, infrared stealth (maintaining ambient color at 160 °C), and efficient solar-to-thermal conversion (reaching 79.1 °C).
- Near-ideal impedance matching was achieved with an impedance ratio (Z) of 1.
Conclusions:
- The CAMC carbon aerogel successfully integrates electromagnetic attenuation and thermal management functionalities.
- This research offers a sustainable approach to recycling leather waste into high-performance protective materials.
- The developed aerogel shows significant potential for applications in electromagnetic protection and thermal regulation.
