A self-assembly method for the fabrication of a three-dimensional (3D) polypyrrole (PPy)/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) hybrid composite with excellent absorption performance against electromagnetic pollution

Electromagnetic pollution is second to air and water pollution, and has been considered as the third worldwide hazard. Materials with electromagnetic absorption (EA) performance are the key to protect human beings and wildlife from this pollution. In this study, a composite comprising three-dimensional (3D) polypyrrole (PPy) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) was prepared via a self-assembly method. This 3D-PPy/PEDOT composite was characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), field emission high resolution transmission electron microscopy (FE-HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. It was found that a composite only consisting of 5 wt% 3D-PPy/PEDOT in a wax matrix exhibited an effective EA bandwidth (deeper than −10 dB) of 6.24 GHz at a thickness of 2.5 mm. Furthermore, the highest effective EA bandwidth of 6.28 GHz can be reached. The results obtained in this study indicate that 3D-PPy/PEDOT is a promising EA material, which can exhibit a broad effective EA bandwidth at a low filler loading and a thin thickness simultaneously.