Multi-Functional Properties of MWCNT/PVA Buckypapers Fabricated by Vacuum Filtration Combined with Hot Press: Thermal, Electrical and Electromagnetic Shielding

The applications of pure multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) buckypapers are still limited due to their unavoidable micro/nano-sized pores structures. In this work, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was added to a uniform MWCNTs suspension to form MWCNT/PVA buckypapers by vacuum infiltration combined with a hot press method. The results showed an improvement in the thermal, electrical, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding properties due to the formation of dense MWCNTs networks. The thermal and electrical properties rose from 1.394 W/m·k to 2.473 W/m·k and 463.5 S/m to 714.3 S/m, respectively. The EMI performance reached 27.08 dB. On the other hand, ABAQUS finite element software was used to simulate the coupled temperature-displacement performance. The electronic component module with buckypapers revealed a homogeneous temperature and thermal stress distribution. In sum, the proposed method looks promising for the easy preparation of multi-functional nanocomposites at low-cost.