High-performance hierarchical graphene/metal-mesh film for optically transparent electromagnetic interference shielding

This work first demonstrates the improved electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance of monolayer graphene on highly transparent metal-meshes of random pattern. Metal-meshes are fabricated on quartz substrate by lift-off based on self-cracking template and CVD graphene is directly transferred onto thin metal-meshes to construct the hierarchical graphene/metal-mesh film, by which considerable improvements both in microwave reflection and absorption can be realized in thin metal meshes. The shielding effectiveness (SE) of the hierarchical film even exceeds the summation of those of the monolayer graphene and the metal-mesh film. Detailed analyses reveal that absorption dominates the improvement in SE for a graphene/50 nm Ag-mesh film, with a three-fold absorption coefficient as well as a slightly increased reflectivity compared to the Ag-mesh itself. The as-prepared hierarchical film primely inherits the excellent optical transmission properties from random-pattern metal-meshes with high transmittance in visual-IR spectrum, low haze and faint diffraction. Moreover, the chemical stability of metal-meshes is highly improved with the protection of graphene. We anticipate that the hierarchical graphene/metal-mesh film can be a promising material to play a great role in realization of highperformance EMI shielding in emerging optoelectronic devices such as touch panels, displays, airborne optoelectronic pods, and aviation camcorders. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.