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Electromagnetic interference shielding materials:

Cite this: J. Mater. Chem. C, 2022,
10, 44
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recent progress, structure design, and
future perspective
Xiao-Yun Wang,†ab Si-Yuan Liao,†ab Yan-Jun Wan, *a Peng-Li Zhu,*a
You-Gen Hu, a Tao Zhao,a Rong Sun a and Ching-Ping Wongc

Received 1st October 2021,
Accepted 21st November 2021
DOI: 10.1039/d1tc04702g
rsc.li/materials-c
The rapid development of electronic equipment and the sharp increase in the demand for wireless
communication have resulted in a substantial increase in electromagnetic pollution. Consequently,
electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials have been developed to solve the grim problem
of electromagnetic pollution. However, 5G communication technology and modern electronic products
demand shielding materials with higher requirements in terms of EMI shielding performance, weight,
flexibility, and reliability. This review focuses on the recent research progress in the structural design,
characterization, and properties of various EMI shielding materials including metal type, carbon type, and
MXene type. The basic theory of EMI shielding is introduced in detail and the current testing
technologies for EMI shielding effectiveness are summarized, which can help elucidate the structural
design principles for shielding materials. The effect of different types of carbon materials, which are
classified as zero-dimensional, one-dimensional, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional, on the
shielding performance, and the corresponding shielding mechanism are discussed. Moreover, near-field
shielding and its application in the field of electronic packaging are introduced. Based on our
comprehensive analysis, we present the main challenges and outlook of EMI shielding materials in future
research.

1. Introduction
a
Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Electronic Materials, Shenzhen Institute of
Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China. The popularization of smart electronic devices and wireless
E-mail: yj.wan@siat.ac.cn, pl.zhu@siat.ac.cn communication in the age of artificial intelligence is a source of
b

c
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China electromagnetic (EM) wave pollution.1 EM waves are associated
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology,
with the fields of mobile communication, satellite signals,
Atlanta 30332, USA
† These authors contributed equally to the work. navigation, and medical equipment.2 Electronics make it

Xiao-Yun Wang received her BS Si-Yuan Liao received his MS

degree from Henan Normal degree from University of Chinese
University in 2015. Currently, Academy of Sciences in 2021.
she is working towards her PhD Currently, he is working towards
degree at University of Chinese his PhD degree at University of
Academy of Sciences under the Chinese Academy of Sciences
supervision of Prof. Rong Sun. under the supervision of Prof.
Her research focuses on the Rong Sun. His research mainly
structural design and fabrication focuses on the structural design
of MXene-based EMI shielding and synthesis of metal/polymer
materials. EMI shielding composites.

Xiao-Yun Wang Si-Yuan Liao

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Review
convenient to perform daily tasks, however, they generate
unwanted EM radiation, resulting in electromagnetic inter-
ference (EMI), which affects the performance of electronic
products and causes serious harm to human beings. Therefore,
whether it is to maintain the normal operation of electronic
equipment or to protect human health, EM protection has
become an important research field. There are many ways to
alleviate the undesirable EM radiation. Usually, a shielding
material is placed between the radiation source and the device,
which can prevent incoming radiation by absorbing or reflecting
EM waves.3 Various materials have been extensively studied and
applied in EMI shielding in recent years. The earliest known
materials for EMI shielding are metals such as copper, alumi-
nium, and nickel, which provide high electrical conductivity and
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good mechanical properties, and can be used as a reflective
shield.4 In addition, metals and their oxides are very common
nano-fillers in nano-composites, and some metal oxides such as
Fe3O4 can be used as magnetic fillers to improve the EMI
shielding effectiveness (SE) by increasing the absorption of EM
waves.5 In addition, ceramics, ferrites, metal magnets, and their
composites are also used to attenuate harmful EM waves.6
However, their use as EMI shielding materials used in portable
Yan-Jun Wan is an Associate
Professor at Shenzhen Institute of
Advanced Electronic Materials,
Shenzhen Institute of Advanced
Technology, Chinese Academy of
Sciences. He received his PhD
degree at The Chinese University
of Hong Kong in 2018. His
research interests are focused on
EMI shielding materials and
functional polymer composites.
Yan-Jun Wan
You-Gen Hu received his PhD
Degree from University of
Chinese Academy of Sciences in
2017. In 2010, he joined the
Shenzhen Institute of Advanced
Technology, Chinese Academy of
Sciences and became an Associate
Professor. Dr Hu works on
functional polymer composites
such as electronic packaging
materials, EMI shielding
materials and flexible electronic
You-Gen Hu materials. He is a Youth Editorial
Board Member of Soft Science.
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Journal of Materials Chemistry C
electronic devices and modern electronic equipment is restricted
by their high density and low flexibility. Accordingly, higher
requirements such as light-weight and flexibility are in demand
for EMI shielding materials.
As is well known, metals with high electrical conductivity
and magnetic permeability possess a high SE. Nevertheless,
their heavy weight, easy corrosion, and low flexibility limit their
further applications. Hence, numerous relevant studies to over-
come these shortcomings of metals in the field of EMI shield-
ing have been carried out in recent years, involving metal/fabric
composites, metal transparent films, and metal-type aerogels.
Considering this, carbon-type materials such as carbon black
(CB), carbon nanotubes (CNT), and graphene provide new
candidates for the manufacture of high-performance, light-
weight, and flexible EMI shielding materials. CB, which is an
easily available carbon product, has been extensively studied in
polymer composites for EMI shielding. Besides, one-dimensional
carbon-type materials such as CNTs and carbon nanofibers have
been widely utilized for high-performance EMI shielding due to
their exceptional electrical conductivity, high aspect ratio, and
tunable diameter.7–9 Graphene, a purely two-dimensional (2D)
sheet of sp2 hybridized carbon atoms, has become the leading
Prof. Peng-Li Zhu obtained her
PhD Degree from the Institute of
Chemistry, Chinese Academy of
Sciences in 2010. Currently, she
is working as a Professor in
Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced
Technology, Chinese Academy of
Sciences. Her research interests
include metal and metal oxide
nanomaterials, EMI shielding
materials and functional
composite materials used in IC
Peng-Li Zhu electronic packaging.
Prof. Rong Sun received her PhD
Degree from the Lanzhou Institute
of Chemical Physics, Chinese
Academy of Sciences in 2006. She
is currently the Director of the
Institute of Advanced Materials
Science and Engineering, Shenzhen
Institute of Advanced Technology,
Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her
research interests include flip-chip
underfill, through silicon via,
thermal interface materials,
Rong Sun embedded capacitor inductor
resistance, and EMI shielding
materials.
J. Mater. Chem. C, 2022, 10, 44–72 | 45
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Journal of Materials Chemistry C Review

candidate for the fabrication of polymer nano-composites.
Graphene aerogel/foam with a porous structure shows high
electrical conductivity and low density, which has been proven
to be an excellent EMI shielding material and used as a filler for
polymer composites with excellent electrical conductivity and EMI
shielding performances.10–12 Furthermore, MXenes, a new type of
2D material possessing superior inherent electrical conductivity
and excellent mechanical properties, has been developed rapidly
and is considered a potential novel EMI shielding material.13
Thus, an effective strategy to achieve enhanced EMI shielding
performances and meet the practical requirements is to construct
hybrid systems with conductive carbon-type materials and mag-
netic particles.
Herein, we review recent advances on various EMI shielding
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and absorption of EM waves. Afterward, the fabrication pro-
cess, structure, and EMI shielding performance of different
types of shielding materials including metals, carbon and
MXenes are discussed. Moreover, we introduce the application
scenarios and test methods of near-field shielding. Finally,
prospective research opportunities and outlook on shielding
materials are prospected. We believe that this short review can
help in understanding the current research status and may find
possible research directions to solve existing bottlenecks in the
field of EMI shielding materials.
2. Basic theory of EMI shielding

materials including metal-type, carbon-type and MXene-type 2.1. Shielding mechanism

(Fig. 1). The effect of different carbon-type materials, which are
classified as zero-dimensional, one-dimensional, two-dimensional,
and three-dimensional on the shielding performance is summar-
ized, and the corresponding shielding mechanism is discussed.
The effect of the structure and morphology of a material on its EMI
shielding performance is analyzed. In the first part, we introduced
the basic theory of EMI shielding in detail. The electrical conduc-
tivity, permittivity, permeability, frequency, and thickness of
shielding materials have a great influence on their reflection
The shielding of EM waves is the use of shielding bodies to
limit the propagation of EM waves in space. The types of EMI
shielding can be divided into electric field shielding, magnetic
field shielding, and EM field shielding. For electrostatic
field shielding, a Faraday cage cavity can be used to protect
EM-sensitive equipment. In an external electric field with an
electric field strength of E, the free electrons in the conductor
will move against the direction of the electric field, thus
inducing both sides of the conductor to generate charges with

Fig. 1 Schematic illustration of electromagnetic interference shielding materials. Copyright 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Copyright 2018, the American Chemical Society. Copyright 2019, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Copyright 2018, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Copyright 2018,
Springer Nature. Copyright 2018, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Copyright 2020, the American Chemical Society. Copyright 2017, John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Copyright 2015, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Copyright 2017, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Copyright Springer Nature. Copyright 2018, the American Chemical
Society. Copyright 2020, the American Chemical Society.

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Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of EMI shielding mechanism of (A) external electric field and (B) low-frequency magnetic field.14 Copyright 2021, Springer
Nature Switzerland AG. Part of Springer Nature. (C) Schematic diagram of EMI shielding mechanism based on transmission line theory. (D) and (E)
Schematic representation of EMI shielding mechanisms.2,15 Copyright 2020, Elsevier Ltd. (F) Rectangular waveguide experimental setup and fixture for
EMI SE measurement.16 Copyright 2018, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (G) EMI shielding measurement setup of coaxial line method.17 Copyright 2018,
John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

the same electric field strength and opposite electric potential
(Fig. 2A).14 In the state of electrostatic equilibrium, the electric
field intensity inside the conductive cavity is zero. Thereby, the
shell of the conductor cavity protects the electronic equipment
placed inside from the influence of the external electric field.
Magnetic field shielding is generally aimed at low-frequency
EM waves (Fig. 2B).
On the one hand, the skin effect of low-frequency EM waves
is very small, resulting in small absorption loss. On the other
hand, the wave impedance of low-frequency EM waves is
minimal, leading to slight reflection loss. Therefore, in the
case of magnetic field shielding, it is challenging to rely on
absorption loss and reflection loss to achieve effective shielding
in the low frequency. For low-frequency magnetic fields, high

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Journal of Materials Chemistry C
permeability materials are usually used to provide magnetic
bypass to achieve shielding, where a magnetic field is concen-
trated in the shielding material with low magnetic resistance,
shielding the sensitive components placed in the middle from
magnetic interference. For an alternating EM field with
changes in both electric and magnetic fields, the electric and
magnetic properties should be considered. Fig. 2C displays a
schematic diagram of the EMI shielding mechanism based on
transmission line theory. The shielding mechanism includes
three parts, i.e., reflection, absorption, and multiple reflection.
Typically, when incident EM waves impact the surface of
shielding materials, most of the EM waves are firstly reflected
due to the impedance mismatch between the external free
space and the shielding materials.18 Residual EM waves pene-
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trating the surface of shielding materials are attenuated inside
the material. Meanwhile, this part of the EM waves is reflected
many times between the different layers inside the shielding
material until it is fully absorbed and eventually dissipated as
heat.19–21 Generally, the types of attenuation of EM waves are
mainly divided into resistance loss, dielectric loss, magnetic
loss, and other losses (such as the destructive interference
caused by the incident and reflected EM waves), as shown in
Fig. 2D.2 To achieve high-performance EMI shielding, materials
should possess either mobile charge carriers or electric and
magnetic dipoles, which can interact with incident waves to
reflect and absorb EM waves. Furthermore, dipole polarization
occurs when the alternating EM field encounters polar groups
inside the shielding material to delay the EM waves and
synergistically improve the overall shielding performance of
the materials (Fig. 2E). For magnetic shielding materials,
magnetic loss, including magnetic hysteresis loss, eddy current
losses, and relaxation loss, will be also induced by an alterna-
ting current magnetic field, which cooperates with current
loss, polarization loss, etc. to create higher losses to attenuate
incident EM waves.22
2.2. Shielding effectiveness (SE)
EMI SE is an indicator to evaluate the decay ability of materials
against EM waves.23 Theoretically, the EMI SE of conductive
materials can be expressed by the Simon formalism.24
pffiffiffiffiffiffi
SE ¼ 50 þ 10 logðs=f Þ þ 1:7t sf (1)
where s, f, and t are the electrical conductivity (S cm1), EM
frequency (MHz), and thickness of the shielding layer (cm),
respectively. It shows that the EMI SE value is numerically
related to the electrical conductivity and the shielding thick-
ness. Generally, EMI SE is expressed in Decibels (dB), which is
the ratio of incident field strength to transmitted field strength
and expressed as in eqn (2)–(4):25
SEp = 10 log(Pin/Pout) (2)
SEE = 20 log(Ein/Eout) (3)
SEH = 20 log(Hin/Hout) (4)
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where P, E, and H represent the strength of the incident EM
waves, electric field, and magnetic field, and in and out
represent the incident EM waves and the transmitted EM
waves, respectively.
For EMI shielding materials, the energy loss relation of the
incident EM waves after passing through the shielding material
can be expressed as eqn (5) and (6):
A+R+T=1 (5)
SET = SEA + SER + SEM (6)
In addition, SEA is also related to the skin depth (d) and
shielding thickness (d) and is defined as formula (7).26
SEA = 20(d/d)log e = 8.686(d/d) (7)
where A, R, and T are the absorption, reflection, and transmis-
sion coefficient, respectively. SET, SEA, SER, and SEM represent
the EMI SE of the total, absorption, reflection, and multiple
internal reflection, respectively. SEM is closely related to the
inhomogeneity of the shielding materials, which can be
ignored when SET is over 15 dB.3 For shielding with excellent
electrical conductivity, the value of R is always higher than that
of A, which means that most of the incident EM waves are
reflected with highly conductive shielding due to the impe-
dance mismatch, and the residual small part EM waves can
penetrate the material and attenuate inside the material. Never-
theless, the value of SEA is much higher than that of SER in
most cases. It is worth noting that the reflection of the incident
EM waves by the conductive material occurs before absorption.
Therefore, when SER 4 20 dB, it means that more than 99% of
the initial power (Pin) is reflected first. A high SEA means that
only the penetrating part of the incident waves is efficiently
attenuated. According to the formula for the calculation of SEA,
as follows: 10 log[T/(1  R)], the value of SEA greatly increases
due to the smaller denominator. Consequently, for almost all
reported conductive shielding materials, the value of SEA is
higher than the value of SER. Indeed, these are two different
evaluation systems. SEA, SER and SET are used to evaluate the
shielding mechanism of materials from an EM energy point of
view, while R, A, and T are used to evaluate the shielding
mechanism from an EM power point of view. Thus, determining
the shielding mechanism roughly by simply comparing SEA and
SER is one-sided, and they are insufficient to clarify the complex
attenuation process of EM waves. Therefore, it is necessary to
carefully distinguish the difference between SE (SEA and SER) and
power coefficient (A and R) when discussing the shielding
mechanism.
2.3. Skin depth effect
The electric field attenuation of EM waves mainly occurs on
the surface of the shielding material, and EM radiation at
high frequency only penetrates the near-surface region of an
electrical conductor, which is known as the skin effect (d) and
expressed as:
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi1
d¼ pf ms (8)
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where f is the wave frequency, m is the magnetic permeability,
and s is the electrical conductivity.26 Therefore, the skin depth
has a negative correlation with the frequency of the EM wave
and the electrical conductivity or permeability of the shielding
layer. It is worth noting that if the skin depth is less than the
thickness of the shielding layer, the effect of multiple reflec-
tions can be ignored. As mentioned above, SEA is related to the
skin depth (d) and shielding thickness (d). For example, the
skin depth of a pure MXene film is up to 7.86 mm at 8.2 GHz.27
The MXene/PEDOT:PSS film has mr = 1 and s = 102 622 S m1,
and it is calculated that d = 17.33 mm at the frequency of
8.2 GHz.18
2.4. Specific SE (SSE)
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For light-weight and porous foam shielding materials, we also
need to consider the important factor of mass density.
A specific SE (the ratio of EMI SE to density) is usually used
to evaluate the overall performance of shielding materials.28
Mathematically, the formula for the calculation of SSE is
expressed as eqn (9) and (10), as follows:24,29
SSE(foam) = EMISE/r = dB cm3 g1 (9)
For example, Wu et al. prepared Cu NW core–shell aerogels,
which exhibited an outstanding EMI SE of up to 52.49 dB and
ultra-light density of up to B1.65  103 g cm3, and sub-
stituting these the data into eqn (9), the specific SE can be
calculated as B31 812 dB cm3 g1.30 In addition, the SSE of the
Ag@C aerogel developed by our group reached 67 015 dB cm3 g1
according to the above-mentioned equation.16 In particular, the
SSE value (foam) is closely related to the thickness of the shield.
Hence, a reference parameter of EMI shielding materials with a
porous structure should be introduced. This formula is
expressed as the EMI SE value divided by the areal density,
which means SE per surface density.31
SSE/t(foam) = EMISE/(r  t) = dB cm2 g1 (10)
The SSE (foam) parameter incorporating three elements of
EMI SE, density, and thickness is used to comprehensively
evaluate the EMI shielding capability of materials.32 For
instance, Qiang Song et al. reported the preparation of a
CNT–graphene hybrid foam, showing an EMI SE of 38 dB at a
density of E0.0058 g cm3, where the SSE/t value of the foam
with a thickness of 1.6 mm its about 40 000 dB cm2 g1 by
calculation.33 However, for a shielding film, its thickness plays
an important role in determining the SE. Therefore, the SSE is
defined as EMI SE divided by thickness. The SSE value can be
calculated using eqn (11), as follows:
SSE(film) = EMISE/thickness = dB mm1 (11)
For example, Zeng et al. designed a Cu-wrapped polymer
nanofiber membrane with an EMI SE of 44.7 dB and thickness
of 1.2 mm, where the SSE of this film by calculation using
eqn (11) is B37 250 dB mm1.34 The SSE of the iodine-doped
large graphene paper prepared our group reached 4176 dB mm1.
Therefore, for different types of shielding materials, such as films,
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Journal of Materials Chemistry C
foams, and aerogels, it is necessary to employ appropriate SSE
definitions to compare their shielding performances.
2.5. Measuring method of EMI shielding effectiveness
The EMI SE value of shielding materials is calculated based on
the S parameters, which are measured using a vector network
analyzer (VNA). There are different methods to measure the
EMI SE, including co-axial transmission line method, open
field method, shielded box method and shielded room method.
The coaxial transmission line method is commonly adopted to
record the S parameters in a broad range of frequencies
(as shown in Fig. 2F), in which both the waveguide and air-
line can be served as fixtures. By employing the waveguide
method, the total EMI SE, SE absorption and SE reflection can
be achieved. Furthermore, the corresponding power coeffi-
cients of reflectivity (R), absorptivity (A), and transmissivity (T)
calculated from the S parameters can help understand the EMI
shielding mechanism.35 When measuring the EMI SE of shield-
ing materials using the rectangular waveguide method, the
sample needs to be cut into a rectangular shape with different
sizes to meet the fixture for different frequency bands.
Typically, EM waves have an incident power of 0 dBm, corres-
ponding to 1 mW in this method. The test frequency band
of the rectangular waveguide method is from 0.96 GHz to
112 GHz. Accordingly, the size of the rectangular waveguide
fixture is gradually reduced. Particularly, 8.2–12.5 GHz, i.e., the
so-called X-band, is the most extensively studied in the litera-
ture because it is widely used in communication applications
such as telephones, microwaves, and TV picture transmission.36,37
Typically, specimens with different thicknesses are cut into 22.86 
10.16 mm (length  width) to well fit the waveguide fixture. The
EMI SE of shielding materials can calculated using the scattering
parameters (S11 and S21), which are obtained from VNA equipment
using eqn (12)–(16), as follows:
R = |S11|2 = |S22|2 (12)
T = |S21|2 = |S12|2 (13)
SET = 10 lg|S21|2 = 10 lg|S12|2 = 10 lg(T) (14)
 
T
SEA ¼ 10 lg (15)
1R
SER = 10 lg(1  R) (16)
The scattering parameter Sij represents the power transmitted
from port i to port j.18,29 The EMI SE of shielding materials also
can be tested by the air-line method in the frequency range of
2–18 GHz, which uses a coaxial line combined with a VNA,17 as
shown in Fig. 2G. A coaxial line holder with an inner diameter
of 3.04 mm and outer diameter of 7 mm is usually used in the
microwave absorption test at the frequency of 2–18 GHz. The
EMI SE is calculated using the scattering parameters (S11 and
S21) obtained from a VNA, where the calculation formula of
the transmission line method is the same as that for the
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Journal of Materials Chemistry C
rectangular waveguide method. Another important method to
measure the EMI SE is the open field method, which is accurate
and close to the real usage environment of the material by
regarding the material as a complete shielding body. In contrast,
shielding box technology is usually introduced at a low frequency,
and it adopts a sealed box with cutouts. The conductive coating
shield unit is placed at the opening of the box to measure all
emitted and received radiation. The EMI SE of the shielding
material is the logarithmic ratio of the EM field inside and outside
the box. However, this method is usually ineffective for frequencies
above 500 MHz. Thus, to increase the frequency range of EM waves
and eliminate ambient noise interference, shielding room techno-
logy is adopted, where the receiving antenna and the test equip-
ment are kept in the same sealed room.
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3. EMI shielding materials
3.1. Metal-type EMI shielding material
Due to their characteristics of excellent electrical conductivity
and permeability, metallic materials (such as silver, copper,
iron, and nickel) are recognized as the important EMI shielding
materials for the EMI shielding of electronic devices. Unfortu-
nately, the application of metallic materials in the EMI shielding
field is limited by their disadvantages, including high density,
non-corrosion resistance, and inability to bend.
Hence, numerous relevant studies about overcoming these
inherent defects ranging from metal/polymer composites,38
metal/fabric composites, metal-type transparent films to metal
type aerogels have been reported. In this chapter, we mainly
review the research on metal-type shielding materials with
flexibility, light-weight, and corrosion-resistance in recent
years, and summarize their EMI shielding performances.
3.1.1. Metal/polymer composites. To overcome the disad-
vantage of traditional metal-type shielding materials, such as
rigidity and high density, metal/polymer composites are a good
choice, which combine the excellent conductivity of metals with
the outstanding mechanical properties of polymers. For example,
a silver/styrene ethylene butylene styrene (SEBS) composite
material was exploited. A mixed solution consisting of silver
trifluoroacetate and SEBS was directly dropped on a polymer
substrate, and then hydrazine hydrate was employed to reduce
the silver particles on the surface of the polymer, which
resulted in the reduced silver nanoparticles being wrapped
inside SEBS.39 A conductive path was formed inside the Ag/
polymer composite material with a content of Ag nanoparticles
as high as 88.5 wt%, which endowed the sample excellent
electrical conductivity (107 S m1), leading to a remarkable
EMI SE of 37.8 dB. SEBS not only acts as a ‘‘glue’’ to improve the
binding of silver nanoparticles and polymer substrate, but also
as a hydrophobic protective agent. Although the hydrazine
hydrate reduction method can quickly reduce metal particles,
hydrazine hydrate as a strong reducing agent and deoxidizer is
highly toxic, which limits its wide use. Shamy et al. fabricated
Ag/PVA composites with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as the polymer
substrate and reducing agent.40 Compared with SEBS, PVA
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possesses the advantage of low toxicity and imparts excellent
mechanical properties to Ag nanoparticles. However, this type
of metal/polymer material still has many problems such as high
filler content of metal, tendency to aggregate and poor bonding
with polymer substrates. Liquid metal possesses excellent
flexibility and good machinability, and thus is superior to the
traditional metals, which are limited by their rigidity. We fabri-
cated liquid metal/cellulose nanofiber composite films by
introducing many functional groups (–COOH and –OH) in
cellulose nanofibers as a polymer substrate.41 The obtained
liquid metal/cellulose nanofiber film showed excellent flexibility,
while possessing an electrical conductivity of 96 000 S m1 and SE
of above 65 dB with a thickness of about 300 mm in the frequency
range of 4–18 GHz.
3.1.2. Metal/fabric composites. Compared with metal/
polymer composite materials, metal/fabric composite materials
possess the advantages of low filler content, low density, and
super interface adhesion, where their super interface adhesion
is beneficial to alleviate the problem of uneven dispersion and
probability that the metal filler will detach from the polymer.
The electrical conductivity and mechanical properties of most
traditional metal composite materials have a contradictory
relationship. Although the mechanical properties of the poly-
mer can be maintained under a low loading of conductive
particle, with an increase in the content of the conductive
particles, the mechanical properties will be seriously damaged
due to the agglomeration of the metal particles. Thus, to solve
the this problems, He Ji et al. fabricated a flexible polyacrylo-
nitrile (CPAN) nanofiber (NF)/metal nanoparticle (MNP) hybrid
membrane via an electrospinning and chemical deposition
method.42 The nanofibers prepared via electrostatic spinning
possess many advantages, including high porosity, good inter-
connectivity, and a large specific surface area. The fabrication
process of the CPAN NF/MNP membrane is shown in Fig. 3A.
Firstly, the PAN NF membrane was achieved by electrospinning
technology. Subsequently, metallic seeds were deposited on the
aminated ethylenediamine membrane to facilitate various
metal particle (Ag, Cu, Ni)/CPAN NF hybrid films. The hybrid
membranes with different types of metallic particles showed
different EMI shielding performances, where the EMI SE of
CPAN NF/Ag was higher than that of the CPAN NF/Ni and CPAN
NF/Cu films. The light-weight CPAN NF/Ag NP hybrid film at a
thickness of 53 mm had an excellent EMI SE of about 90 dB,
which shows potential applications in intelligent portable and
wearable electronic devices.
Most conductive fabrics were acquired via the dip coating,
spray coating, and printing methods in the past. Nevertheless,
these fabrication technologies deteriorate the inherent flexibility
and mechanical properties of the textile substrate. In the hope of
endowing fabrics with hydrophobicity, while ensuring flexibility
and mechanical properties of the substrate, Liu et al. prepared a
metal fabric through a vacuum-assisted layer-by-layer assembly
technique, in which the interface interaction between the metal
particles and polymer was promoted by plasma treatment and
deposition of PEI molecules on the fabric.43 The treated textiles
were then alternately coated with MXene nanosheets and Ag
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Fig. 3 (A) Schematic diagram of the manufacture of CPAN NF/MNP hybrid nanofiber membrane.42 Copyright 2018, Springer Nature. (B) Schematic
diagram of the preparation process of hydrophobic, permeable, and conductive silk textile.43 Copyright 2019, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (C) Schematic for
the fabrication of the PU–AgNW/CFF fabric.45 Copyright 2018, Elsevier Ltd.

nanowires to obtain a metal/fabric composite, as shown in Fig. 3B. fabric owing to the synergistic effect of MXene and Ag nanowires.
Interestingly, it was found that the EMI shielding performance of The MXene sheet could prevent the oxidation of silver and enhance
the co-modified fabric was better than that of the single modified the binding force of silver on the fabric base.

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The binding force between the metal and fabric plays a
dominated role in the mechanical properties, EMI shielding
performance and reliability of metal/fabric composites. In addition,
Luo et al. used a polydopamine (PDA)-modified polypropylene (PP)
polymer substrate to enhance the adhesion of Ag particles and
polymer fibers without active functional groups.44 The fabricated
conductive polymer fabric composites possessed outstanding
conductivity of 8120 S m1 and extraordinary EMI SE of around
71.2 dB. The composite material of PP/PDA/Ag NPS metal fiber
coated with PDMS exhibits numerous application prospects in
aerospace, mobile phone components, and other fields stemming
from its characteristics of light weight, favorable electrical con-
ductivity, excellent mechanical stability, and corrosion resistance.
However, the polymer fabric substrate mentioned above is
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an insulator, which results in poor electrical conductivity, and
thus recently researchers have focused their attention on
carbon fibers with excellent electrical conductivity as fiber
substrates for fabricating the metal/fabric composites with
excellent EMI shielding performances. For example, Lee et al.
used the electroless plating method to fabricate a metal/fiber
composite, where the activated carbon fiber fabric (CFF) was
covered with copper particles.46 In addition, Jia et al. also
fabricated stretchable and durable conductive metal/carbon
fabric materials by integrating silver nanowires and polyurethane
on a carbon fiber fabric,45 as shown in Fig. 3C.
The authors found that the EMI SE of the PU–Ag NW/CFF
film reached 106 dB in the frequency range of 8.2–12.5 GHz
after dip-coating for over 7 times. Further, the mechanical and
chemical stability of the PU–Ag NW/CFF film was tested, and
the results revealed that the EMI SE was only reduced by 3%
after 5000 bends, and the EMI SE was only reduced by 5% and
3% after soaking in strong acid of pH = 2.0 and alkaline
solution of pH = 12.0 for 10 h, respectively.
3.1.3. Metal-type transparent films. Many electronic devices
are required to meet EMI shielding requirements and visualiza-
tion windows in the aviation, medical, and civil fields. However,
traditional metal fillers have the disadvantages of high rigidity
and high filling volume, which are challenging to meet the above-
mentioned requirements. By contrast, silver nanowires (Ag NWs)
are considered promising conductivity fillers to prepare trans-
parent EMI shielding films due to their intrinsically high
conductivity, large aspect ratio, and excellent mechanical
flexibility.47,48 There has been significant research on the use
of silver nanowires as a conductive filler to prepare transparent
EMI shielding films. For example, Jia et al. using calcium
alginate, silver nanowires, and polyurethane as raw materials
via the Mayer-rod method (Fig. 4A) to fabricate a transparent
conductive film with high transmittance of 92% and EMI SE
of 20.7 dB.49 Sodium alginate was firstly coated on the glass
substrate as the bottom coating. In the second step, the Ag NWs
were aligned on the sodium alginate. In the third step, the Ag
nanowire layer was coated with polyurethane via the blade
coating method. In the fourth step, the CA/Ag NW/PU films
were separated in calcium chloride solution. Subsequently,
the obtained film was tested for its performances of optical
transmittance, EMI shielding in the 8–12 GHz frequency range,
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and mechanical bending. The film with an area density of
58 mg m2 Ag nanowire could still maintain 96% EMI SE after
30 min of ultrasound and 5000 times bending. In addition,
Dong Gyu Kim et al. fabricated a highly conductive and
transparent film (acrylic polymer-coated/reduced graphene
oxide/Ag NWs).50 The conductive and transparent film was
fabricated by initially depositing Ag NWs on a PET substrate,
and then coating graphene oxide on the surface of the Ag NWs,
and finally subjecting the film to wet sintering and drying, as
shown in Fig. 4B. The EMI SE, optical properties, and durability
of the obtained transparent film were tested. The experimental
test results clearly indicated that the composite film could
attain a shielding value of more than 24 dB under high
transmittance (485%) and the shielding value of the sample
did not significantly decrease upon exposure to harsh environ-
ments (85 1C and relative humidity of 85%) for 500 h. These
results indicate that transparent multilayer film with silver
nanowires as a filler exhibits huge commercial prospect in
visible light devices in the communication frequency range of
0.3–3 GHz.
However, the application of silver nanowire (Ag NW) trans-
parent films in the EMI shielding of visualization equipment
is limited by their low EMI SE, poor bending durability, and
high cost. Hence, Wang et al. used cellulose film as a flexible
substrate and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)–poly(styrene
sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) nanosheets as a sealing coat to fabri-
cate a highly transparent and conductivity-stable Ag NW film.51
Additionally, Jiao et al. modified Ag NWs with Fe3O4 particles
to fabricate a transparent film, in which Fe3O4 improved the
absorption loss for EM radiation and enhanced the adhesion of
the Ag NWs with the polymer substrate, as shown in Fig. 4C.52
The authors chose polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) with a strongly
hydrophilic pyrrolidone moiety and hydrophobic alkyl chains
as the dispersion solution to overcome the problem that Fe3O4
easily aggregates during the dispersion process. The EMI SE
results clearly showed that the EMI SE of 24.9 dB of the Fe3O4/
PVP-modified Ag NW shielding film is higher than that of the
pure Ag NW film of 17.8 dB, and meanwhile maintained
excellent transparency of 90%. We believe that silver nano-
wire EMI shielding films with excellent adhesion and lower
contact resistance have broad application prospect in the
flexible electronics field.
To obtain transparent and broadband EMI shielding films,
Wang et al. been deposited Ag and Cu particles on a PET
substrate via the sputtering method (Fig. 4D).53 The obtained
electromagnetic Ag shield film (average transmittance was
96.5%) exhibited an excellent EMI SE of B26 dB in the X-,
Ku-, Ka, and K-bands. Surprisingly, when the two films were
separated at quarter-wavelength intervals, the EMI SE exceeded
50 dB. The authors finally claimed that this film is a promising
and effective alternative to current transparent EMI shielding
materials, which holds great potential in the EMI shielding
of future visual devices.
3.1.4. Metal-type aerogel shielding materials. The con-
struction of three-dimensional porous structures is considered
to be an effective strategy to decrease the high density of
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Fig. 4 (A) Flow chart of the fabrication of the CA/Ag NW/PU film.49 Copyright 2018, the American Chemical Society. (B) Schematic diagram of the
preparation of silver (Ag) nanowire (NW) film.50 Copyright 2018, the American Chemical Society. (C) Schematic of the fabrication of EMI shielding films of
silver nanowires modified with Fe3O4.52 Copyright 2019, the American Chemical Society. (D) Schematic diagram of Co-deposition process of Ag/Cu/PET
EMI shielding transparent film.53 Copyright 2019, the American Chemical Society.

metallic materials. Simultaneously, the formation of holes
inside metal-type aerogel materials can enhance the multiple
reflection loss of EM waves in EMI shielding, thereby obtaining
excellent shielding performances. To achieve this objective, Wu
et al. fabricated Cu NW@G (Cu NW@graphene) core–shell
aerogels via freeze-drying and thermal reduction methods, as
shown in Fig. 5A.30 Bare copper is easily oxidized, but if the
copper surface is wrapped a graphene layer, it can significantly
resist oxidation. The Cu NW@G core–shell aerogels exhibited
an outstanding EMI SE of about 52.5 dB in a wide frequency
range of 8.2–18 GHz. The Cu NW@G core–shell aerogel had an
extremely low density of 16.5 mg cm3, leading to a remarkable
SSE of 3170 dB cm2 g1. Besides, our group obtained Ag@C
hybridized sponge through a high-temperature annealing method
(Fig. 5B).16 The three-dimensional sponge exhibited outstanding
mechanical properties, which fully recovered under 90% compres-
sion strain, splendid EMI shielding performance with an EMI SE
of over 70 dB in the frequency of 8.2–18 GHz and ultra-light

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Fig. 5 (A) Fabrication of the CuNW@G core–shell aerogel.30 Copyright 2018, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (B) Schematic diagram of the fabrication of silver
wire-coated carbon core–shell (Ag@C) hybrid sponge.16 Copyright 2018, John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
characteristics with a density as low as 3.82 mg cm3 and SSE is as
high as 67 015 dB cm2 g1. Even more incredible is that the Ag@C
hybrid sponge showed superhydrophobicity and corrosion resis-
tance due to the wrapped carbon layer, which solved the problem
that metals are easily corroded. Thus, this work provides a new
design idea for the development of efficient, lightweight, flexible,
and corrosion-resistant metal-type EMI shielding materials.
3.1.5. Metallic magnetic materials. The addition of mag-
netic metal materials such as Fe3O4 and Ni is conducive to
improve the magnetic losses of metal composite materials.
Deng et al. produced ultra-thin and flexible nickel-plated non-
woven carbon fiber/polycarbonate (CF/PC/Ni) membranes with
excellent EMI shielding properties and superior mechanical
strength.54 The fabrication process included the preparation of
CEF-NF, catalytic, electroless nickel plating, and lamination, as
shown in Fig. 6A. The ultra-thin CF/PC/Ni film at a thickness of
0.31 mm had an excellent EMI SE of 72.7 dB, which is three-
times that of the sample without nickel plating but the same
thickness. To enhance the tensile strength of the composite
film, the authors encapsulated the nickel-plated CF film
between two PC films via the lamination method. The tensile
strength increased from 63.8 MPa for the single-layer PC film to
85 MPa for the two-layer PC film. However, it is particularly
54 | J. Mater. Chem. C, 2022, 10, 44–72
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significant to note that the tensile strength of CF/PC/Ni films
will decrease with an extension of the nickel plating time.
Core–shell-structured nickel@graphite nanoplate (Ni@GNP)
functional particles were manufactured by Wang et al. using
electroless plating technology.55 The EMI test result suggested
that the EMI SE of the Ni@GNP film of 57.1 dB is 1.54-times
higher than that of the pure GNP film with the same thickness
of 0.3 mm in the frequency range of 8.2–12.5 GHz. The
Ni@GNP functional composite film exhibited outstanding EM
wave absorption ability due to the fact that Ni magnetic metal
particles were attached to the surface of GNP, which further
enhanced the dielectric loss and magnetic loss. In this experi-
ment, the addition of Ni has three functions. Firstly, the
dielectric properties are improved via interfacial electron polar-
ization. Secondly, the presence of a nickel shell improved
the magnetic losses. Thirdly, the unique core–shell structure
provided an internal multiple reflection conductive network.
To improve the affinity and dispersion between the compo-
site filler and the polymer matrix,56,57 Hye Ji Im et al. prepared
multi-layered and monolayered nanocomposites of graphene
nanoplatelets (GNP)/Ni/polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA).
Nano-Ni particles were uniformly distributed on GNP, and the
Ni2+ ions interacted with the functional groups on GNP to form
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Fig. 6 (A) Schematic diagram of the preparation of CF/PC/Ni film.54 Copyright 2018, Elsevier Ltd. (B) Diagram of (a) monolayered GNP/Ni/PMMA
nanocomposite and (b) multi-layered GNP/Ni/PMMA nanocomposite.58 Copyright The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2019. (C) Schematic diagram of the
electroless Ni-plating processes.59 Copyright 2016, Elsevier Ltd. (D) Flow chart of the preparation process of MWCNT–Fe3O4@Ag/epoxy
nanocomposite.60 Copyright 2018, Elsevier Ltd. (E) Fabrication process and EMI shielding characteristics of PMMA/rGO/magnetite nanocomposite.5
Copyright 2017, the American Chemical Society.

chemical bonds. The GNP/Ni filler exhibited both a high aspect
ratio and excellent conductivity, which improved the EMI
shielding performance by constructing a conductive network
in the polymer matrix. As shown in Fig. 6B, monolayer and
multilayer GNP/Ni/PMMA composites were designed with the
same average amount of metal (30 wt%) and the same sample
thickness (2.5 mm) to simply explore the effect of the multi-
layer structure on the shielding performance, and the results
showed that the shielding performance of the composite with a
multilayer structure increased significantly.58
Carbon nanotubes with a hollow porous structure can
provide multiple EM wave reflection networks and further have
excellent EMI shielding ability. The added magnetic metal
particles and carbon nanotubes can exhibit a synergistic effect
to enhance the magnetic loss and dielectric loss. Yoon-Ji Yim
et al. fabricated Ni-MWCNT/HDPE composites (Ni-MWCNTs/
HDPE) via electroless Ni plating, as shown in Fig. 6C.59 Due to
the synergistic effect of the Ni particles and carbon nanotubes,
Ni-MWCNT/HDPE presented an excellent EMI SE of 13 dB in
the frequency range of 1–1.2 GHz, which is higher than that of
4 dB for MWCNT/HDPE without Ni plating. The traditional
method of electroless nickel plating has the disadvantages of
great pollution and high cost, and thus researchers have begun to
explore new environmentally friendly methods to achieve carbon
nanotubes plated with nickel. Wang et al. fabricated MWCNT–
Fe3O4@Ag/epoxy nanocomposites via the blending-casting
method.60 As shown in Fig. 6D, acidic Fe3O4 and aminated
MWCNT were reacted to form MWCNT–Fe3O4@Ag/epoxy nano-
composites via the pouring process. The test results for MWCNT–
Fe3O4@Ag/epoxy in terms of electrical conductivity, thermal
conductivity, mechanical properties, and thermal properties
certified that the MWCNT–Fe3O4/epoxy nanocomposite with
MWCNT–Fe3O4@Ag 15 wt% possessed a satisfactory EMI SE of
35 dB, thermal conductivity l of 0.46 W m1 K1 and Young’s
modulus of 4.60 GPa. The Fe3O4 nanoparticles enhanced
the interaction between MWCNT–Fe3O4@Ag and promoted

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the formation of conductive networks, and meanwhile triggered Table 1 EMI shielding properties of metal-type composites
the hysteresis loss of EM waves, and provided an interface of
Filler Thickness Frequency EMI SE
reflecting and reabsorbing EM waves. The problem of the poor Materials content (mm) (GHz) (dB) Ref.
combination of the metal particles and carbon materials was
PAN nanofiber/Ag 2 wt% 0.053 8–26.5 90 42
overcome through functionalizing the MWCNTs and acidic Fe3O4 Textile/Ag/MXene — 0.12 8–12.5 43 43
particles, which differs from traditional electroless plating and PP/PDA/Ag 25 wt% — 8–12.5 70 44
electroplating methods. Thus, this method opens a way to coat PU–Ag NW/CNF/Ag — 0.36 8–12.5 106 45
Carbon type fiber/Cu — 0.4 1.5–10 80 46
nanoparticles on a substrate with a low surface free energy. PU/Ag NW 80 wt% — 0.5–3 30 49
Carbonaceous fillers are mainly used to absorb EM waves due Cu/large graphene 30 vol% 0.01 1–8 35 17
Cu and Ag/ITO — — 8–40 26 53
to their conductive properties and modifying their structure
Cu/Ag NW /PI — 0.01 0–1.5 55 47
with magnetic nanoparticles can further improve the efficiency RGO/Ag NW — — 0.5–3 24 47
of their electromagnetic interference shielding.56,61 In the study of Ag NW/Fe3O4 — 0.05 8.2–12.5 25 47
poly(methyl methacrylate)/reduced graphene oxide/magnetite Ag NW@C — 0.3 8.2–18 70 16
Cu NW@graphene — 0.946 8.2–12.5 52.5 30
(PMMA/rGO/Fe3O4) nanocomposites, Sharif et al. prepared a Nickel@graphite — 0.3 8.2–12.5 57.1 55
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rGO/Fe3O4 composite filler to benefit from both advantages of Carbon fiber/PC/Ni — 0.31 0–1.5 72.7 54
Ni–MWCNTs/HDPE — — 0.5–1.5 13 59
the segregated structure of rGO and magnetite properties of
Fe3O4@Ag/epoxy 15 wt% — 8.2–12.5 8 60
Fe3O4. As shown in Fig. 6E, the addition of magnetite NPs to the PC/a-CF/a-CNT 10.5 wt% 2 10 26 62
PMMA/rGO nanocomposites improved the EMI SE by increasing GNP/Ni/PMMA 30 wt% 2.5 8.2–12.4 61 58
the absorption shield, while the reflection shield remained almost CEF-NF/Ag/WPU Ag deposition 0.183 0.03–1.5 102.9 63
PPy/PDA/AgNW 50 wt% — 8.2–12.4 48.4 64
unchanged. In addition, when the incident EM wave touches the PMMA/rGO/Fe3O4 2.6 vol% 2.9 8.2–12.4 63.2 5
separated structural layer formed by rGO, the EM wave is absorbed
Notes: PAN: polyacrylonitrile, PP: polypropylene, PDA: polydopamine,
firstly and reflected repeatedly between the internal interfaces until PU: polyurethane, NW: nanowire, CNF: carbon fiber fabric, PC: poly-
it is completely absorbed and attenuated.5 carbonate, HDPE: high density polyethylene, GNP: graphene nano-
In summary, researchers have developed many methods, platelet, PMMA: polymethyl methacrylate, CEF-NF: carbon-fabric, WPU:
waterborne polyurethane, and PPy: polypyrrole.
including the fabrication of metal/polymer composites, metal/
fabric composites, metal-type transparent composites films,
and metal-type aerogels, to solve the defects of easy corrosion, materials, including CB,69 CNTs,9 carbon nanofibers (CNFs), and
high specific gravity, and insufficient flexibility of traditional graphene nanosheets,70 have captured the great attention of
metals. researchers due to their large aspect ratio, light weight, out-
The lightweight and flexible targets of metal can be achieved standing mechanical properties, easy processing, and high
by coating metal particles on polymer substrates, but it is electrical conductivity.71 As mentioned above, the ability of a
difficult for polymer interfaces without polar functional groups material to shield against EM waves is relevant to its intrinsic
to combine with metal particles. Due to the presence of a large electrical conductivity. However, most polymers do not have the
number of functional groups on its surface, the cellulose fiber ability to shield against EM waves because they are insulators.
matrix is considered an ideal choice as a substrate for metal Therefore, it is a useful method to introduce carbon fillers in
nanoparticles. Metal-type transparent composite films have polymers to obtain higher electrical conductivity and better
been developed towards high transparency, stretchable, and EMI SE.72,73 In this chapter, we summarize the carbon-type
low filling volume. The biggest features of metal-type aerogels materials used in EMI shielding in recent years.
are their high shielding effectiveness, positive resilience, ultra- 3.2.1. Zero-dimensional carbon-type materials for EMI
low density, and ultra-high SSE/t. Magnetic metals can improve shielding. Among the many conductive fillers, CB is affordable
the permeability and conductivity of composite materials, and commonly used to fabricate polymer composites for EMI
further enhancing the absorption loss of composites for EM shielding. The polymer matrix, conductive fillers, and dispersion
waves. We predict that within the next few years, how to solve conditions are crucial to determine the EMI SE of composites. For
the problem of the combination of metal particles and poly- example, Subhadip Mondal et al. developed chlorinated poly-
mers is destined to become a hot issue in the research on metal ethylene (CPE)–K-CB composites via solution mixing, and the
composite EMI shielding materials. Table 1 presents the EMI EMI SE of the composites with 30 wt% CB was as high as
shielding properties of metal-type composites. 38.4 dB.69 As conductive carbon black, K-CB is an excellent filler
owing to its great conductivity, rich surface area, and good
3.2. Carbon-type shielding materials chemical stability. Nevertheless, to form a conductive network,
Over the years, metals have always been chosen to shield against a large amount of carbon black is required due to the small
EM waves. However, due to their inherent characteristics of easy contact area of granular carbon black. A conductive network is
to oxidation and corrosion, it is difficult for metals to maintain formed in polymer composites when the filler content exceeds
their outstanding EMI shielding performances and reliability the percolation threshold, and the connected path for mobile
under extremely harsh conditions, such as humid and acidic charge carriers is important for EMI shielding performance.74
environments. Therefore, researchers have turned their attention The electrical conductivity of the CPE/K-CB composite increased
from metals to carbon-type shielding materials.65–68 Carbon-type with an increase in the concentration of the conductive filler

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Fig. 7 (A and B) DC conductivity and EMI SE of CPE/K-CB composites.69 Copyright 2016, The Royal Society of Chemistry. (C and D) Photograph and
SEM image of the highly flexible E50O50V30 specimen.71 Copyright 2018, John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
(as shown in Fig. 7A and B). This is because the accumulation
of K-CB particles enhanced their contact, and electrons could
easily jump in this interconnected network.
Generally, adding zero-dimensional CB to the polymer
matrix in a certain concentration range can improve the
electrical conductivity and EMI shielding performance of com-
posites. However, to achieve satisfactory electrical conductivity
and EMI shielding performances, a relatively high filler loading
is necessary, which results in the aggregation of the filler and
further deteriorates the mechanical properties of the compo-
site. The EMI SE is relevant to not only the CB loading but also
the dispersion state of the filler. Therefore, to obtain excellent
EMI SE and reduce cost, it is useful to better disperse and
distribute the fillers in the polymer matrix. Accordingly, Ravin-
dren et al. demonstrated a structure with an immiscible blend
polymer as the matrix and CB as the conductive filler (as shown
in Fig. 7C and D). They used ethylene methyl acrylate (EMA)
and ethylene octane copolymer (EOC) as the blend polymer to
achieve the double penetration phenomenon in the compo-
sites, which substantially improved the electrical conductivity
and shielding performance due to the selective distribution of
CB in the different polymers, and the composites showed an
EMI SE of 31.4 dB.71
3.2.2. One-dimensional carbon-type materials for EMI
shielding. As typical one-dimensional carbon materials, CNTs
are considered to have broad prospects in the field of EMI
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shielding due to their high aspect ratio and excellent electrical
conductivity and mechanical properties.75 Similar to carbon
black fillers, CNTs are an ideal filler to fabricate conductive
polymer composites for EMI shielding.
For example, an EMI shielding composite consisting of
SWCNT and polyurethane (PU) was prepared through a simple
physical mixing process.81 The EMI SE of the composite mate-
rial with 20 wt% SWCNT in the X-band was 16–17 dB and the
shielding mechanism was mainly ascribed to the reflection of
EM waves. The dispersion of CNTs and conductive network
of CNTs in the polymer matrix are important for the EMI
shielding performance.9,82 Singh et al. used the method of
chemical vapor deposition to anchor MWCNTs on carbon
fibers, and then used epoxy resin to enhance the mechanical
properties of the MWCNT/CF materials. It was found that the
EMI SE improved from 21 to 27 dB by incorporating
MWCNTs in CF felt.83 Although the high mass ratio of CNTs
may enhance the EMI SE, a high loading of CNTs may make is the
sample difficult to process due to their severe accumulation.84,85
Thus, to tackle the aggregation of CNTs in polymers, Gong and his
co-workers demonstrated a dry spray method for the fabrication
of layered CNT/CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced polymer) compo-
sites. Consequently, a perfect network was formed in the polymer,
significantly promoting the mechanical properties and EMI
shielding performance of the composites. The results showed
that by adding 2.5 g m2 CNTs to the interlayer surface, the
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Fig. 8 (A) Schematic diagram of the preparation of CNT film and SEM images of the morphology of the CNT film before (a) and after (b) rolling
treatment.76 Copyright 2017, Elsevier Ltd. (B) Schematic diagram of W-CNT interconnected by epitaxial welding and SEM image of W-CNT at each step.77
Copyright 2018, the American Chemical Society. (C) Schematic diagram of CNT film assembly process and optical picture of CNT film.78 Copyright 2019,
Elsevier Ltd. (D) Fabrication process of MCMB–MWCNT composite paper.79 Copyright 2016, the American Chemical Society. (E) Diagram of the
fabrication of FC-ANF/CNT hybrid aerogel film.29 Copyright 2019, the American Chemical Society. (F(a–d)) Outline of the preparation process of
densified CNT film. (e) Schematic diagram of the charge separation in a single CNT induced by polar molecules (CSA). (f and g) EMI SE and electrical
conductivity of densified CNT film.80 Copyright 2020, the American Chemical Society.

maximum EMI SE of the CNT/CFRP composites increased from
62 dB to 74 dB.9 In fact, the key factors that limit the mechanical
properties, electrical conductivity and EMI shielding effectiveness
of CNT films are the interaction between adjacent tubes. Thus, to
solve this problem, various methods have been executed for the
construction of CNT films, including alignment and mechanical
densification, high-temperature epitaxial welding, use of polymer
and other conductive materials as a binder, and chemical
densification. As shown in Fig. 8A, a highly aligned and
compacted CNT film was prepared via the method of floating
catalyst chemical vapor deposition and mechanical rolling to
achieve high electrical conductivity.76 The CNT bundles were
arranged loosely and neatly in the same direction, accompa-
nied by obvious gaps and pores. After further rolling treatment,
a denser CNT bundle network was constructed (Fig. 8A).
Consequently, this CNT film exhibited enhanced electrical
conductivity compared with the film without densification.
In addition, Yao et al. proposed an ‘‘epitaxial welding’’
strategy to enhance the connection between CNTs and improve
the electrical conductivity of CNT films (Fig. 8B).77 Solution-
based polyacrylonitrile was coated on CNTs in the form of a
‘‘nanogel’’, and then the polymer was converted into graphite

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by high-temperature annealing to produce a network structure,
in which the crystal layer acted as a bridge to connect adjacent
CNTs. The results revealed that the electrical conductivity and
tensile strength of the contact-welded CNTs were 5-times
(B1500 S cm1) and 20-times higher (B120 MPa) than that
of the unwelded CNT, respectively. As shown in Fig. 8C, CNT
impregnation with polymer solution and continuous winding
were used to prepare a carbon nanotube (CNT)/polymer com-
posite film that was only 1 mm thick.78 The in situ impregna-
tion of the polymer enhanced the tube–tube interface bond. In
addition, Lu et al. reported the preparation of free-standing,
flexible, and conductive SWCNT/MWCNT composite films via a
spray and vacuum-filtration method.86 This material demon-
strated a shielding performance of up to 65 dB and high
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electrical conductivity of 20 000 S m1 at an areal density of
0.011 g cm2 and thickness of B130 mm. Besides, Chaudhary et al.
reported a homogenization and vacuum-assisted filtration method
for the preparation of meso-carbon microbead-MWCNT composite
paper with the performance of good flexibility, extremely light
weight, and high conductivity (Fig. 8D).79 Also, the EMI SE was
31 dB to 56 dB at a thickness of 0.15–0.6 mm.
Recently, Hu et al. fabricated a hydrophobic fluorocarbon
(FC) resin-coated ANF/CNT aerogel film via blade coating and
freeze-drying (Fig. 8E), which exhibited fascinating properties
including robust, thin, light weight, multifunctional, and extra-
ordinary EMI SE.29 Its EMI SE was 54.4 dB at the thickness of
568 mm and the SSE was up to 33528.3 dB cm2 g1. Additionally,
the FC coating layer endowed the aerogel film hydrophobicity
and self-cleaning performance. In our recent study, an ultrathin
densified CNT film was prepared via the purification and
densification of a pristine CNT membrane (Fig. 8F(a–e)), where
high-temperature and acid treatment removed the impurities,
and the charge separation in individual CNTs induced by
chlorosulfonic acid led to strong CNT–CNT attraction.80 Conse-
quently, the densified CNT film achieved a remarkable EMI SE
of 101 dB at a thickness of 14.7 mm (Fig. 8F(f)) and tensile
strength of 822  21 MPa. Meanwhile, these performance of
the densified CNT film in harsh environments could be well
maintained.
3.2.3. Two-dimensional carbon (graphene)-type materials
for EMI shielding. Given that previous studies have shown that
a single graphene sheet has extraordinary electron transport
properties,87 owing to its outstanding charge carrier mobility,
and favorable electrical conductivity and remarkable mechan-
ical properties, graphene, as a two-dimensional (2D) material,
opens numerous opportunities in the field of EMI shielding.
Graphene may provide numerous advantages such as excellent
electrical conductivity and easy modification, compared to metals,
conductive polymers, CB, CNTs, and CFs. Similar to the case of
CNTs in the previous section, graphene films, papers, and com-
posite materials have been explored for EMI shielding owing to its
extraordinary physical and chemical properties.
For the first time, Hong reported the EMI shielding perfor-
mance of single-layer graphene prepared via the CVD method.88
The average SE value of the single-layer CVD graphene was
2.27 dB, which means that about 40% of incident waves can be
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blocked. Since then, many studies on the EMI shielding per-
formance of multilayer graphene and graphene paper prepared
via the CVD method have been reported.89,90 For example,
Pradip Kumar provided a detailed overview of pristine graphene
materials prepared via the CVD method for EMI shielding.3
In fact, pristine graphene (PG) has higher electrical conduc-
tivity (E106 cm1) than that of graphene oxide (GO). Thus, it is
obvious that PG is an extremely attractive material in the field
of EMI shielding due to its high electrical conductivity
(E106 cm1). Wei et al. used a scalable scanning centrifugal
casting method to efficiently prepare highly oriented indepen-
dent laminated PG films and PG/polymer composite films (as
shown in Fig. 9A), which exhibited outstanding EMI shielding
performances and excellent mechanical strength.91 The EMI SE
of a 100 mm thick PG film could reach 93 dB. The highly oriented
PG nanosheets enhanced the tensile strength of the PG film up
to about 145 MPa. Although PG has higher electrical conductivity
than that of GO, it is difficult to prepare polymer composites
with a homogenous dispersion of PG due to its chemical
inertness. In this context, GO with abundant oxygen-containing
functional groups is a more suitable precursor for graphene-
based composites owing to its good dispersion in water and
polar organic solvents. Therefore, many studies have used GO
instead of PG to prepare graphene-based EMI shielding materials.
The restacked and aggregated graphene in the polymer matrix will
deteriorate the performance of composites such as their mechan-
ical properties.72,92
Thus, to overcome this disadvantage, a lot of technologies to
improve the dispersion stability of graphene fillers have been
studied, where one of the effective methods is covalent modi-
fication of graphene nanosheets. For example, Hsiao et al.
prepared graphene nanosheet (GN)/waterborne polyurethane
(WPU) composites with good electrical conductivity and high
EMI SE.70 The GN/WPU composites were prepared via covalent
modification with aminoethyl methacrylate (AEMA) using free
radical polymerization. The covalently modified AEMA–GN
segment grafting the organic functional group AEMA to the
surface of GN is positively charged (–NH3+), which helps to
uniformly disperse GNs in aqueous solution and prevent their
stacking. In contrast, the WPU chain end is negatively charged
(–SO3), and the strong interaction between AEMA–GN and
WPU causes AEMA–GN to be uniformly and stably dispersed in
the WPU matrix, which is beneficial for the formation of a GN
conductive network (as shown in Fig. 9B). Consequently, the
GN/WPU composites exhibited an EMI SE of 38 dB in the
X-band (8.2–12.4 GHz).70
Another important method is the creation of a segregated
structure, which can reduce the percolation threshold and
increase the electrical conductivity. Yan et al. combined a
segregated architecture with high-pressure solid-phase com-
pression molding to produce reduced graphene oxide (rGO)
and polystyrene (PS) composites for efficient EMI shielding
(as shown in Fig. 9C).93 The segregated architecture with only
3.47 vol% rGO showed an EMI SE of 45.1 dB. The conductive
networks were formed due to the distribution of rGO at the
interfaces of the PS multi-facets instead of its homogeneous
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Fig. 9 (A) Diagram of the manufacture of PG film with SCC and EMI SE of PG film.91 Copyright 2021, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (B) Process flow chart of
manufacturing P-GN and AEMA–GN.70 Copyright 2015, the American Chemical Society. (C) Flow chart of the synthesis of segregated rGO/PS (s-rGO/PS)
composite.93 Copyright 2014, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim. (D) Schematic illustration of iodine-doped large-sized graphene film.94
Copyright 2017, Elsevier Ltd.

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distribution throughout the polymer matrix. The above-mentioned
work mainly focused on studying the EMI shielding performance
of graphene films and graphene-based polymer composites.
However, it has been reported that large-size graphene sheets
with fewer defects have higher electrical conductivity and better
mechanical properties.95 Nevertheless, the lower carrier density
of graphene hinders the further improvement of its electrical
conductivity and EMI shielding performance.96 Thus, doping
an electron acceptor or donor is an effective method to increase
the carrier density of the material. In our previous work, we
doped iodine in large-size graphene sheets to increase the
carrier density of the graphene nanosheets (the preparation
process is shown in Fig. 9D) and studied the effect of the size of
graphene nanosheets and the surface doping with iodine on
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the EMI shielding performance.94 The iodine-doped large-size
graphene film exhibited an EMI SE of up to 52.2 dB without
compromising the mechanical properties of the graphene film.
3.2.4. Three-dimensional carbon (carbon foam/sponge/
aerogel)-type materials for EMI shielding. Recently, to meet
the needs of EMI shielding of light weight and high absorption
loss for aerospace and aircraft, three-dimensional (3D) inter-
connected carbon frameworks have attracted attention from
researchers.97,98 3D structures such as foam/sponge/aerogels
can reduce the sample weight due to their high porosity and
further enhance multiple-reflection effects. 3D carbon-type EMI
shielding materials including GO, CNTs, and CNFs have been
widely studied, where outstanding EMI shielding performances
have been achieved. However, 3D structures made of carbon
materials have disadvantages such as poor mechanical properties.
Therefore, the methods generally used in many articles include
curing with epoxy resin or PDMS or mixing with polymers to
enhance the mechanical properties of carbon-type composite
shielding materials.
For example, Chen et al. reported light-weight and high-
performance epoxy/3D CNT sponge composites with excellent
EMI shielding properties.84 Firstly, 3D CNT foam was synthe-
sized via the chemical vapor deposition method and adopted as
a conductive skeleton for the EMI shielding materials owing to
its extraordinary properties, including freestanding shape,
great mechanical properties, and high porosity. Then, they
used a template-free method to synthesize the epoxy/3D carbon
nanotube sponge composites via the infiltration of 3D carbon
nanotube sponge. The EMI SE of the epoxy nanocomposite with
0.66 wt% of CNT sponge was around 33 dB (as shown in
Fig. 10A). Moreover, this EMI SE is higher than that obtained
with 20 wt% of conventional CNTs. It can be seen from Fig. 10A
that only 0.66 wt% of carbon nanotube sponge could signifi-
cantly improve the tensile strength of the material. Additionally,
the influence of hole shape or hole orientation in the hole
structure on EMI SE was first studied by Zeng et al. They used
the freeze-drying method to create a multi-walled carbon nano-
tube (MWCNT)/water-based polyurethane (WPU) composite
material, which has the characteristics of flexibility, anisotropy,
and porosity.99 Compared with pure WPU or CNT, the addition
of polymer improved the mechanical properties of the material
(as shown in Fig. 10B). The results demonstrated that by
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adjusting the ratio of the electric MWCNT, WPU matrix, and
porosity, the EMI SE could be controlled in a wide range (as
shown in Fig. 10B).
In addition to CNTs being used to prepare 3D materials,
graphene is also used to prepare 3D composite materials for
shielding EM waves. For example, Chen et al. studied a method
for the synthesis of graphene/PDMS foam composites with high
electrical conductivity and effective EMI SE without the foaming
process.85 In addition to the 3D sponge and foam structures
described above, 3D graphene aerogels have also attracted the
interest of researchers. Our group synthesized graphene aerogel–
epoxy composites (GA–EP) by adding epoxy resin to a 3D graphene
aerogel and then curing it.26 The effects of small and large-sized
graphene oxide sheets on the composite materials were also
studied. The experimental results showed that the EMI shielding
performance of the GA–EP composites is better than that of small-
size GA–EP. There is a good three-dimensional conductive network
inside the 3D graphene aerogel, and thus it exhibited outstanding
electrical conductivity and high porosity. The EMI SE of large-size
GA–EP at a thickness of 3 mm and 1.0 wt% filler is about 30 dB in
the frequency range of 10–20 GHz.
Moreover, in addition to the above-mentioned method of
using epoxy and PDMS as curing agents to toughen the mechan-
ical properties of carbon-type composites, freeze-drying is also a
commonly used method for the preparation of three-dimensional
structural materials. We prepared a CF/RGO hybrid aerogel with
outstanding EMI SE through the method of simple solution
mixing, freeze-drying, and annealing reduction (preparation pro-
cess is shown in Fig. 10C). In addition, the CF/RGO hybrid aerogel
has the advantage of super-elasticity and compression stability.
This super-elastic and porous CF/RGO hybrid aerogel exhibited an
EMI SE of 47.8 dB at 18 GHz when its thickness was 5 mm, its EMI
SE could be adjusted by mechanical compression.100
Sahoo et al. reported the preparation of 3D graphene/noble
metal (Pt and Ag) nanocomposites via an ice template and freeze-
drying method. The as-obtained 3D-graphene/noble metal nano-
composites exhibited an excellent EMI of around 28 dB in the
X-band (8.2–12.4 GHz) and great elasticity and outstanding
electrical conductivity.102 In another work, CNT-multi-layered
graphene edge plane (MLGEP) core–shell foam was fabricated
via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) (Fig. 10D).33 The composite
material of CNT–MLGEP, where MLGEPs seamlessly grew on
CNTs via covalent bonding, exhibited the full advantages of both
nanocarbons. The as-synthesized CNT–MLGEP core–shell hybrid
foam showed excellent EMI shielding of 47.5 dB at a thickness of
1.6 mm. By controlling the PECVD time, the density of the CNT–
MLGEP foam could be adjusted. In general, three-dimensional
carbon-type shielding materials exhibit excellent characteristics
such as low density, lightness, and excellent shielding performance.
It has also been shown that the combination of material and
structure can achieve ideal performances. Table 2 lists some of the
recent carbon-type composites for EMI shielding.
3.3. MXene-type shielding materials
MXenes, as 2D early transition metal carbides/nitrides, are regarded
as EMI shielding material owing to their good hydrophilicity,
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Fig. 10 (A) Flexural properties and EMI SE of epoxy/CNT sponge.84 Copyright 2015, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (B) Optical image of porous MWCNT/WPU
composite material, SEM image, mechanical properties, and EMI SE of anisotropic porous structure composite material.99 Copyright 2015, John Wiley
and Sons, Inc. (C) Schematic diagram of the manufacturing process of hybrid aerogel.100 Copyright 2017, Elsevier Ltd. (D) Process of the fabrication of the
CNT–MLGEP core–shell hybrid foam.33 Copyright 2017, John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

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Table 2 EMI shielding properties of carbon-type composites

Materials Filler content Thickness (mm) Frequency (GHz) EMI SE (dB) Ref.
(CPE)–K-CB 30 wt% 1 8.2–12.4 38.4 69
EMA/EOC/VCB 30 wt% 2 8.2–12.4 31.4 71
SWCNT/MWCNT film 30 wt% 0.13 8.2–12.4 65 86
Densified CNT film Bulk 0.0147 8.2–12.4 101 80
PU/SWCNT 20 wt% — 8.2–12.4 16–17 81
MWCNT/CF/epoxy — 2.5 12.4–18 21–27 83
Layered CNT/CFRP 2.5 g m2 — 8.2–12.4 74 9
MCMs–MWCNT composite paper 25 wt% 0.6 8.2–12.4 56 79
ANF/CNT aerogel film 40 wt% 0.568 8.2–12.4 54.4 29
Laminated PG film Bulk 0.1 8.2–12.4 93 91
GN/WPU 5 vol% — 8.2–12.4 38 70
rGO/PS 3.47 vol% 2.5 8.2–12.4 45.1 93
r-GO/SiO2 20 wt% 1.5 8.2–12.4 38 101
Iodine-doped graphene film Bulk 0.0125 8.2–12.4 52.2 94
CNT/epoxy sponge 0.66 wt% 2 8.2–12.4 33 84
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MWCNT/WPU 2.2 vol% 4.5 8.2–12.4 49.2 99

Graphene/PDMS foam 0.8 wt% 1 0.03–1.5 B30 85
GA–EP 1.0 wt% 3 10–20 30 26
CF/RGO hybrid aerogel 77 wt% 5 11.9–18 47.8 100
3D-graphene/metal — 0.8 8.2–12.4 28 102
CNT–MLGEP core–shell foam — 1.6 8.2–12.4 47.5 33
Notes: CPE: chlorinated polyethylene, EMA: ethylene methyl acrylate, EOC: ethylene octane copolymer, PU: polyurethane, CF: carbon fiber, CFRP:
carbon fiber-reinforced polymer, ANF: aramid nanofiber, PG: pristine graphene, MCMs: meso-carbon microbeads, GN: graphene nanosheet, WPU:
water-based polyurethane, PS: polystyrene, PDMS: polydimethylsiloxane, GA–EP: graphene aerogel–epoxy composites, and MLGEP: multilayered
graphene edge plane.

excellent electrical conductivity, and large specific surface
area.103–105 Typically represented by Ti3C2Tx, MXenes have been
used to construct a series of MXene-type EMI shielding materials,
including films, fabrics, foams, and aerogels.3 This chapter
summarizes the MXene-type materials used in EMI shielding in
recent years.
3.3.1. MXene-type films for EMI shielding. Shahzad et al.
firstly reported an MXene (Ti3C2Tx) film with excellent EMI SE
of 92 dB at a thickness of 45 mm (Fig. 11A). The reported EMI SE
values are the highest of any known synthetic materials with a
similar thickness.24 However, although MXene films exhibit
excellent EMI SE, their inferior mechanical properties and
flexibility limit their applications in wearable electronic devices
and other fields. Accordingly, CNFs were introduced as rein-
forcement fillers and combined with MXenes to obtain hybrid
materials with excellent EMI shielding performances and
mechanical properties.109,110 For example, Cao et al. prepared
an CNF/MXene composite material composed of CNFs and
delaminated MXene flakes via a vacuum-assisted filtration
method.111 Compared to the pure d-MXene film, the mechan-
ical strength of the d-Ti3C2Tx/CNF composite film was greatly
improved. The SEM image of the fracture surface of the
d-Ti3C2Tx/CNF composite film after the tensile test showed that
the fracture surface still maintained a tightly packed layered
structure. In addition, Zhan et al. prepared a Ti3C2Tx/TOCNF
(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy (TEMPO) oxidized cellu-
lose nanofiber) composite paper with a hierarchical nanostruc-
ture via vacuum-assisted filtration.4 Due to the synergistic
toughening effect of the Ti3C2Tx nanosheets and TOCNFs, the
resultant Ti3C2Tx/TOCNF composite showed superb mechan-
ical properties, with a tensile strength of up to 212 MPa and
Young’s modulus of up to 7 GPa. Moreover, the prepared
Ti3C2Tx/TOCNF composite paper exhibited good electrical con-
ductivity (2837 S m1) and EMI SE (39.6 dB) at a thickness of
38 mm. This result indicates that the introduction of TOCNF
inevitable reduces the electrical conductivity and EMI SE of
the composite, while improving its mechanical properties.
A reasonable and high-efficiency structural design for the
preparation of ultrathin and flexible composites is helpful to
show the EMI shield potential of MXenes and will widen the
practical application of MXene-type composites. For example,
Cao et al. combined an MXene with cellulose and carbon
nanotubes to prepare an ultrathin, flexible carbon nanotube/
MXene/CNF composite film with a gradient and sandwich
structure (CMC GS).106 As shown in Fig. 11B, the CMC GS
composite film showed a tensile strength of 97.9  5.0 MPa,
which is much higher than that of the pure MXene film
(4.9  1.0 MPa). The significant improvement in mechanical
properties can be attributed to the good incorporation of CNFs,
which are commonly used as an ideal reinforcing material.
Under the premise of controlling the total solid content of each
component in the composite material, different structures are
designed to obtain different EMI shielding efficiency values.
In summary, the CMC GS composite paper has good mechanical
properties and excellent EMI shielding properties. Zhou et al.
fabricated an alternating multi-layered CNF@MXene film with an
excellent EMI shielding value of above 40 dB at a thickness
of 35 mm.112 The compact alternating multilayer structure of
the composite film used a pure CNF layer as the mechanical
framework, which ensures the strength and toughness of the
multilayer film.
Recently, Wu et al. report the preparation of a PC–MXene
film via the physical and chemical double cross-linking of
CNFs and MXene nanosheets (Fig. 11C).107 Compared with

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Fig. 11 (A) Ti3C2Tx film with excellent EMI SE of 92 dB at a thickness of 45 mm.24 Copyright 2016 American Association for the Advancement of Science.
(B) Carbon nanotube/Ti3C2 MXene/CNF composite films with gradient and sandwich structure.106 Copyright Springer Nature. (C) Schematic of the
preparation of PC–MXene.107 Copyright 2021, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (D) EMI SE of PI/Ti3C2Tx films treated under hygrothermal conditions and
schematic diagram of the protective effect of PI.108 Copyright 2021, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

the MXene film, the PC–MXene film showed significantly excellent EMI SE. In addition, the PC–MXene film exhibited a
improved mechanical strength without compromising the high SE of 33.3 dB at a thickness of only 0.9 mm, which is

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Fig. 12 (A) Schematic illustration of the fabrication, SEM image, and EMI SE of the hydrophobic and flexible MXene foam.114 Copyright 2017, John Wiley
and Sons, Inc. (B) Schematic illustration of the fabrication, SEM image, and EMI SE of MXene/RGO aerogel.115 Copyright 2018, the American Chemical
Society. (C) Ti3C2Tx MXene/graphene hybrid foam with 3D porous architecture.116 Copyright 2019, Elsevier B.V. (D) Ti3C2Tx MXene/C hybrid foam/epoxy
nanocomposite with 3D porous architecture.117 Copyright 2019, Elsevier Ltd.

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Table 3 EMI shielding properties of MXene-type composites Wang et al. prepared a three-dimensional Ti3C2Tx MXene/C
hybrid foam (MCF)/epoxy nanocomposite via a series of methods,
Filler Thickness Frequency EMI SE
Materials content (mm) (GHz) (dB) Ref. including sol–gel method, thermal reduction, vacuum-assisted
impregnation and epoxy curing.117 Conductive MXene nanosheets
Ti3C2Tx film Bulk 0.045 8.2–12.4 92 24
d-Ti3C2Tx/CNF 80 wt% 0.047 8.2–12.4 25.8 111 were evenly distributed in the 3D cross-linking network to con-
Ti3C2Tx/TOCNF 50 wt% 0.038 8.2–12.4 39.6 4 struct a complete and efficient conductive pathway. As shown in
CMC GS 80 wt% 0.038 8.2–12.4 38.4 106 Fig. 12D, the as-prepared MCF/epoxy nanocomposite (5 wt%
CNF/MXene 50 wt% 0.035 8.2–12.4 40 112
PC–MXene film 50 wt% 0.0009 8.2–12.4 33.3 107 MXene) exhibited the optimum electrical conductivity of 184 S m1
PI/Ti3C2Tx film 2 vol% 0.21 8.2–12.4 77.4 108 and the maximum EMI SE of 46 dB. The unique three-dimensional
MXene foam Bulk — 8.2–12.4 70 114
porous architectures can expand the application of the MXene-type
3D MXene/RGO aerogel 0.74 vol% — 8.2–12.4 50 115
MXene–rGO foam Bulk 3 8.2–12.4 50.7 116 composites in the field of EMI shielding. Table 3 shows the EMI
Ti3C2Tx MXene/C 4.25 wt% 2 8.2–12.4 46 117 shielding properties of MXene-type composites.
Notes: TOCNF: 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy (TEMPO) oxidized
cellulose nanofiber. CMC GS: CNTs/MXene/CNFs composite film with
4. Near-field shielding
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gradient and sandwich structure. PC–MXene: physical and chemical

dual cross-linking of MXene. PI: polyimide.
unattainable for pure MXene films. In addition to their poor
mechanical properties, easy oxidation is also a fatal flaw of
MXenes. Chen et al. prepared a layered porous polyimide (PI)/
Ti3C2Tx film with continuous conductive paths.108 This film not
only exhibited high electrical conductivity and shielding per-
formance, but also maintained an excellent EMI shielding
performance under harsh conditions such as hygrothermal or
combustion environments, low temperature (196 1C) or high
temperature (250 1C) and rapid thermal shock (DT = 446 1C).
The mechanical properties and oxidation stability of MXene are
still the focus of urgent research.
3.3.2. MXene-type aerogels for EMI shielding. As men-
tioned above, 2D MXene sheets are generally designed into
macroscopic MXene assemblies of films for EMI shielding
applications. In addition, MXene sheets can be assembled into
3D porous architectures with excellent EMI shielding performances
and mechanical properties, such as foams and aerogels.113 For
example, Yu’s group was the first to report the production of a pure
MXene foam with flexibility and hydrophobicity via hydrazine-
induced foaming of an MXene film.114 The growth of bubbles
within the MXene film changed its dense layered structure into a
cellular structure (as shown in Fig. 12A), resulting in higher porosity
and EMI SE (from 52 dB to 70 dB) for the MXene foam compared to
the film. In addition, the preparation of a 3D MXene/RGO aerogel
was subsequently reported via directional freezing and freeze-
drying by Yu’s group (Fig. 12B).115 A porous and aligned cellular
microstructure was formed in the 3D MXene/RGO aerogel via the
tight interconnection between the MXene nanosheets and gra-
phene sheets. Moreover, the 3D MXene/RGO aerogel (0.74 vol%)
exhibited high electrical conductivity (1085 S m1) and excellent
EMI SE (up to 50 dB) in the X-band.
Fan et al. fabricated a lightweight and conductive MXene/
graphene hybrid foam via freeze-drying and heat treatment for
superior EMI shielding performance (Fig. 12C).116 The porous
MX–rGO foams were characterized by high electrical conductivity
and low density. The incident EM waves were rapidly absorbed or
attenuated by multiple internal reflections and scattering in the
interconnected porous conductive network of the MX–rGO foam.
Considering the distance between the radiation source and
the shielding material, radiation can be divided into near-field
radiation (kr { 1) and far-field radiation (kr c 1), where k is the
wavenumber and r is the distance from the EM source to the
detector. In the far-field region, EM waves can be regarded as
plane waves, where the wave impedance (electric field/magnetic
field) is constant, and the SEE (SE of the electric field) is equal
to the SEM (SE of the magnetic field). Different from the far-
field region, the SEE and SEM of the near-field are inconsistent
and can vary with the distance from the source.118 Therefore, it
is necessary to measure the values of SEE and SEM in the near
field separately. At present, there are two test methods for near-
field electric and magnetic shielding. In the first method, the
near-field electric and magnetic measurements are performed
on shielding materials coated on a test board.119,120 For the
near-field electric shielding measurement, firstly, a patch
source pattern is used to generate electric fields. Secondly, a
strip-line is used to measure near-field electric leakage from the
shielding material. Then, the SE of shielding materials can be
obtained from the 3-port S-parameter of the VNA. For near-field
magnetic shielding measurement, firstly, a microstrip line
source with a 50 O load is used to generate a magnetic field.
Secondly, a loop-probe is used to capture near-field magnetic
leakage from the shielding material. Similarly, the SE can be
extracted from the 2-port S-parameter of the VNA. The second
method is to use a near-field scanning measurement setup
(as shown in Fig. 13A), which is more flexible compared to
the traditional method.121 The near-field scanning platform
includes a computer for controlling the system, a robotic arm,
which is used to fix the probe, a magnetic probe (the magnetic
probe can be replaced by an electric probe to measure the
electric field) to detect the magnetic field radiated from the SiP
(System-in-package), and spectrum analyzers (used to measure
the active devices) or vector network analyzers as receivers.
According to the different probes, the radiation value of different
frequency bands can be measured. The near-field SE is defined as
follows:
SENF = 20 log10|Hunshielded(r)/Hshielded(r)| (17)
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
HðrÞ ¼ Hx ðrÞ þ Hy ðrÞ (18)

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Fig. 13 (A) Near-field scanning measurement platform. (B) Results of without shielding materials and with shielding materials.124 Copyright 2021,
Elsevier Ltd.
where Hunshielded is the tangential magnetic field without the
shielding lid, Hshielded is the tangential magnetic field with the
shielding lid, r is any test point on the scanning plane, Hx is the
magnetic field in the x-direction and Hy is the magnetic field in
the y-direction.
SiP is essential for the miniaturization and multi-function of
electronic equipment; however, the complex EM wave radiation
from SiP can cause serious EMI problems.122 Therefore, the
problem of EMI between different components in SiP needs
to be solved urgently. Accordingly, conformal shielding has
already substituted the traditional metal shielding cover.123
Given the small size and weak radiation of SiP, traditional SE
measurement methods, such as anechoic chambers and rever-
beration chambers, are not suitable for measuring its EMI SE.
In practical applications, to determine the EMI SE of shielding
SiP, researchers have adopted EM near-field scanning technology.
For example, Vikas Rathi et al. prepared a conductive composite
sheet and investigated the EMI SE in the near-field and far-field
regions. Moreover, Lin et al. analyzed the SE of magnetic materials
in the near- and far-field and studied the effects of using magnetic
materials in a wireless charging coil module.125 Jog et al. mea-
sured the near-field radiation from a car deck player and found
that the microcontroller, crystal oscillator, and coil on the PCB
generated the maximum radiation.126 Subsequently, Shen et al.
demonstrated the use of shielding materials to reduce the EM
radiation of a chip.124 The result shows that the shielding
materials can effectively reduce EMI. With the highly integrated
trend of SiP, shielding materials will be used to effectively shield
EMI sources in the near-field and far-field regions.
5. Conclusions and outlook
In this review, we highlighted the recent research progress in
various EMI shielding materials including metal-type materials,
carbon-type materials, and MXene-type materials. We mainly
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focused on the effect of their electrical conductivity, and
structure of composites on their EMI shielding performance.
The corresponding shielding mechanism was analyzed to elu-
cidate the structural design principles of shielding materials.
Although metal-type, carbon-type, and MXene-type materials
have made significant achievements in the field of EMI shield-
ing, there are still many issues to be explored for practical EMI
shielding applications. Accordingly, we hope to provide guide-
lines to advance the design of EMI shielding materials for
further research. It is expected that the following future
research directions will be developed soon.
(1) In the previous part of this article, we introduced EMI
shielding with different structures, concluding with layered,
foam, and isolated structures. The development of EMI shield-
ing materials with novel structures may be a research direction.
For example, Shen et al. constructed strong flexible polymer/
graphene composite films with 3D saw-tooth folding for
enhanced and tunable EMI shielding.127 The change in the
folded angle and side length will cause changes in the shielding
performance of the material, so that the material performance
can be adjusted through simple mechanical deformation,
which is shown in Fig. 14A. However, for materials with good
electrical conductivity, it is difficult to balance good interfacial
impedance matching and strong dielectric loss. Therefore,
optimizing the structure and components to obtain better
EMI shielding performances may be a research direction. For
example, Sun et al. adjust the impedance matching by design-
ing the structure of materials to obtain better electromagnetic
absorption performances.128
(2) Additionally, the development of new application scenarios
for EMI shielding materials may be a research point. For example,
graphene-coated contact lenses protect the eyes from EM waves
compared with ordinary contact lenses (Fig. 14B).129 If graphene-
coated contact lens is used, the electromagnetic energy is
absorbed by graphene and dissipates as heat before reaching
the inside of the eye. Although graphene is widely used in the
J. Mater. Chem. C, 2022, 10, 44–72 | 67
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Journal of Materials Chemistry C Review

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Fig. 14 EMI shielding materials with specific macro-structures: (A) polyurethane/graphene composites with saw-tooth folding structure.127 Copyright
2016, Elsevier Ltd. (B) Diagram of the manufacturing process of smart contact lenses with graphene coating.129 Copyright 2017, the American Chemical
Society. (C) EMI SE of Ti3CNTx and Ti3C2Tx films and cross-sectional TEM images of Ti3CNTx films at 350 1C.130 Copyright 2020, American Association for
the Advancement of Science. (D) Preparation, SEM image, and EMI SE characterization of TaSe3 polymer insulating composite films.131 Copyright 2021,
John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

research on EMI shielding materials, it is a very novel idea to
use it as a coating for smart contact lenses through special
processing processes.
(3) Ti3C2Tx, as the most conductive material in the MXene
family, has been widely explored for use in the field of EMI
shielding. Even though the reflection and absorption of EM
waves can be controlled by designing the structure of MXene
materials, the overall EMI SE has not been substantially
improved. Later, Aamir Iqbal et al. demonstrated the transi-
tion metal carbonitride Ti3CNTx MXene and studied its EMI
shielding ability.130 As is known, high-efficiency EMI shielding
materials generally have high electrical conductivity. The synthe-
sized Ti3CNTx had low electrical conductivity, and its EMI SE was
lower than that of Ti3C2Tx. However, surprisingly, after heat
treatment at 350 1C, the Ti3CNTx film showed an EMI SE of
116 dB, which is greater than the 93 dB measured for the annealed
Ti3C2Tx. This abnormal phenomenon may be due to the abnor-
mally high absorption of EM waves in the layered structure (as
shown in Fig. 14C). These abnormal phenomena provide a wider
range of research ideas for studying MXene materials.

68 | J. Mater. Chem. C, 2022, 10, 44–72 This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2022

Review
(4) As is known, excellent electrical conductivity is a pre-
requisite for high EMI shielding effectiveness. However, to our
surprise, an insulating polymer film with excellent EMI shield-
ing properties was reported by Zahra Barani et al. As shown in
Fig. 14D, they used TaSe3, a quasi 1D van der Waals material, as
a filler and compounded with a polymer to prepare a polymer
composite film.131 TaSe3, a transition metal trihalide with a
one-dimensional structure motif, could be exfoliated into
atomic beams with an ultra-high aspect ratio of up to 106 after
treatment. The experimental results indicated that the polymer
composite material with o3 vol% quasi 1D TaSe3 filler exhibited
insulating properties, while exhibiting an excellent EMI shielding
performance in the X-band GHz and extremely high sub-THz
frequency range. This article indicates that the unique EMI
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shielding properties of these insulating films are derived from
the fact that EM waves can effectively couple with free electrons on
the TaSe3 atomic filament. These novel films provide a new
direction for the preparation of more insulating EMI shielding
films for high-frequency communication technology.
(5) Most of the existing EMI shielding materials can effec-
tively attenuate EM waves mainly through reflection, which
leads secondary EM pollution. For example, the metal-type,
carbon-type, and MXene-type materials exhibit outstanding
EMI shielding performances due to their excellent electrical
conductivity and structure. Therefore, EMI shielding materials
with low-reflection and high-absorption still need to be further
explored.
(6) Additionally, some efforts have been focused on devel-
oping multifunctional EMI shielding materials at the present
stage. For instance, the FC/ANF/CNT aerogel film exhibited the
properties of outstanding EMI shielding, Joule heating and self-
cleaning. The development of multifunctional materials that
combine EMI shielding performance with other functions such
as anticorrosion, good heat dissipation and hydrophobicity is a
direction worth exploring.
(7) The controllable preparation of two-dimensional nano-
materials and the design of various structures are the key to the
development of EMI shielding materials. As mentioned above,
MXenes demonstrated remarkable electrical conductivity and
excellent EMI shielding efficiency. Moreover, MXene nanosheets
are easy to process due to the abundant functional groups on their
surface, but their stability is poor and they are easily oxidized.
Besides, the force between MXene nanosheets is too weak to form
a strong structure. Therefore, new methods for the preparation
and anti-oxidation of MXene, as well as the design of the structure
of materials urgently need to be developed.
(8) Although the research on EMI shielding materials is very
extensive, the underlying mechanism of how shielding materials
interact with EM waves is still poorly understood. Thus, it is a
development direction to study the EMI shielding mechanism with
the aid of simulation software such as HFSS, CST and COMSOL.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts to declare.
This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2022
View Article Online
Journal of Materials Chemistry C
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Foundation and Applied Basic
Research Fund project of Guangdong Province (2019A151
5111034), Shenzhen basic research plan (JCYJ201908071
54409372), the Shenzhen Post-doctoral Funding (E19106), and
National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 52103090).
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