Scalable development of a multi-phase thermal management system with superior EMI shielding properties

Abstract The search for lightweight, flexible, thermally stable and thermally conductive materials with good electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding ability remains the most serious prospect in recent years. Herein, a polyacrylonitrile (PAN) based multi-phase system is fabricated using hollow cenospheres (CS), mesocarbon microbeads (MCMB) and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with or without iron oxide via homogenization and vacuum assisted filtration technique. Resulting composite paper is stabilized to provide enough strength to the composite paper with thickness 0.18 mm and density 0.31–0.33 g/cm3 which can vary in accordance with cenospheres loading. Composite paper exhibits very high EMI SE value of −75.6 dB on 20 wt% cenospheres loading while a synergistic effect of dual dielectric (CS) and magnetic (iron oxide) materials in the composite paper, results in excellent EMI shielding value of −80.5 dB at a frequency of 10.3 GHz. Furthermore, the composite paper shows good thermal stability and enough thermal conductivity required for proper heat transfer management. Therefore, the development of multi-functional composite paper in one entity may get benefits of excellent EMI performance, good thermal stability and significant heat dissipation capability with the advantage of lightness and flexibility.