MXene Fibres for Electromagnetic Interference Shielding and Thermal Management

Opportunity

MXene fibres are a new class of functional fibres that have excellent electrical, electrochemical and mechanical properties. Fabricated from electrically conductive and mechanically strong MXene nanosheets, they address the growing demand for advanced materials in textile-based devices and beyond. However, achieving a harmonious balance between electrical conductivity and mechanical properties remains a significant challenge, which primarily stems from the difficulty in further compacting the loose MXene nanosheets. 

With a focus on continuous and precise fabrication, our technology offers a method for producing highly compact MXene fibres. The resulting MXene fibres exhibit exceptional compactness, with high orientation and low porosity, thereby demonstrating superior tensile strength, toughness and electrical conductivity. Moreover, these ultra-compact fibres are constructed into metre-scale MXene textiles, which showcase high-performance EMI shielding and personalised thermal management capabilities.

Notably, these MXene textiles exhibit exceptional mechanical durability and stability, even after undergoing multiple washing cycles. The technology can be readily extended to a wide range of nanostructured materials, enabling the construction of functional fibres for large-scale applications in various domains, including healthcare, aerospace and everyday life.

Technology

The technology is a continuous and controllable wet-spinning process to fabricate ultra-compact MXene fibres. It is highly suitable for scale-up production of electronic textiles. 

The resultant MXene fibres exhibit the following characteristics: 

• High tensile strength (585.5 ± 2.1 MPa); 
• Ultra-high toughness (66.7 ± 5.0 MJ/m3);
• High electrical conductivity (8,802.4 ± 30.8 S/cm);
• Excellent long-term mechanical durability and stability (~87.8% performance retention after 5×104 bending cycles); and
• Suitable for EMI shielding (approximately 57 dB attenuation) and thermal management applications (when subjected to voltages of 8 V, MXene fibres can generate heat, raising temperatures to around 130°C). Suitable for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding (~57 dB) and thermal management applications (After applying voltages of 8 V, MXene fibres can generate the heat with the temperature increasing up to ~130ºC.) 

This technology can be applied to a diverse range of nanostructured materials, such as graphene fibres, carbon nanotube fibres, and carbon fibres. This opens possibilities for the construction of functional fibres with wide-ranging applications in various domains.

Figure 1: Ultra-compact MXene Fibres.

Applications & Advantages

Potential applications of the ultra-compact MXene fibres include (but not limited to): 

• EMI shielding
• Personal thermal management
• Energy storage
• Wearable electronics
• Healthcare
• Aerospace 

Benefits for users:  

• Ultra-compact MXene layers formed, resulting in fibres that exhibit good performance such as high electrical conductivity, strength , and toughness.
• Continuous and controllable route that enables scale-up production of electronic textiles.