In situ generation of TiO 2 in graphene aerogel and its epoxy composite for electromagnetic interference shielding performance

Multi-component composite can effectively improve the electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (EMI SE) due to the synergistic effects. Herein, graphene aerogel (GA) provides a three-dimensional network framework and in situ generation of titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) on its network layer by the sol–gel method. After microwave irradiation reduction, the titanium dioxide/microwave-reduced GA (TiO 2 /MRGA) was immersed in epoxy resin solution and cured to obtain its composite. The existence of the Ti–O–C bond proves the favorable combination of TiO 2 and MRGA. Under electromagnetic radiation, MRGA and TiO 2 generate a synergistic effect to improve the EMI SE of the composite. When the mass ratio of TiO 2 to MRGA is 1.5:1 (2.1 wt%+1.4 wt%), the composite exhibits a maximum EMI SE of 32.5 dB in the X band. Moreover, when the mass ratio of TiO 2 to MRGA is in the range of 1 to 1.8, the average EMI SE of the composites increases by 37% compared with that of the MRGA/Epoxy composite. The research indicates that this kind of EMI shielding composite has enormous application potential.