Lightweight, multifunctional recycled carbon fibre/MXene/PEDOT: PSS nonwoven veils with double-layered structure for excellent electromagnetic interference shielding

In recent years, the demand for efficient and flexible electromagnetic (EMI) shielding has increased dramatically to ensure the stability of electronic devices and protect the body from electromagnetic radiation due to the development of wearable electronics and fifth-generation network communication(5G). Nonwovens made from short-cut recycled carbon fibre have shown potential for use in the EMI shielding area due to their economic and ecological benefits. However, achieving lightweight, high-efficiency, and flexible electromagnetic shielding remains challenging. To address this problem, we constructed a lightweight multifunctional recycled carbon fibre (rCF)/ Ti₃C₂T_x/ Poly (3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene): poly (styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS) nonwoven fabric with double-layered structure, high electromagnetic shielding efficiency (EMI SE), photothermal effect and good Joule heating performance via simple double vacuum-assisted filtration and hot-pressing strategy. Different sizes of Ti₃C₂T_x flakes were prepared using improved mild etching, ultrasonic and vortex fluid power-focused delamination (PFD) methods. The rCF/Ti₃C₂T_x/PEDOT: PSS (MPrCF) nonwoven fabric showed superior conductivity (96.18 S/cm), a favourable EMI shielding efficiency of 63.3 dB, and excellent absolute shielding efficiency of up to 13,900 dB cm²*g⁻¹ with only 0.25–0.35 mm thickness due to the unique porous double layered lamination structure and high conductivity. In addition, the new MPrCF veil exhibited superior joule heating and photothermal performance with a saturated temperature of up to 290.2 °C at 5v voltage and 112.3 °C at 300 mW/m² light intensity. This new rCF veil shows great potential applications in composite reinforcement fields as a lightweight and scalable electromagnetic shielding material.