Mechanically strong, thermally conductive and flexible graphene composite paper for exceptional electromagnetic interference shielding

Abstract In this work, a flexible yet strong graphene/nickel based composite paper (RGN paper) was fabricated by a one-step cold compression method at room temperature. The cellular structure of nickel foam provides a possibility for combining metal nickel and graphene sheets to construct sandwich-structured composite film with flexibility and robustness. The RGN paper not only shows exceptional EMI shielding effectiveness (55 and 85 dB in the X-band while the thickness is merely 0.12 or 0.25 mm), but also exhibits high in-plane thermal conductivity (247 W/(m·K), much higher than pure nickel). The ultrahigh EMI shielding performance is attributed to the high electrical conductivity of the RGN paper and the unique built-in nickel network. In addition, the RGN paper also indicates high flexibility and mechanical robustness after repeatedly bending at a strain of 80% for 1000 cycles.