Ultralight Flexible Collagen Fiber Based Aerogels Derived from Leather Solid Waste for High Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

Bin Lyu; Zhuo Guo; Dangge Gao; Yingying Zhou; Shihao Guo; Jiamin Zhu; Jianzhong Ma

doi:10.1021/acs.langmuir.4c00611

Ultralight Flexible Collagen Fiber Based Aerogels Derived from Leather Solid Waste for High Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

Langmuir. 2024 Apr 30;40(17):9215-9223. doi: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.4c00611. Epub 2024 Apr 18.

Authors

Bin Lyu^{1

2

3}, Zhuo Guo^{1

2

3}, Dangge Gao^{1

2

3}, Yingying Zhou^{1

2

3}, Shihao Guo^{1

3}, Jiamin Zhu^{1

2

3}, Jianzhong Ma^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ College of Bioresources Chemical and Materials Engineering, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi'an 710021, China.
² National Demonstration Center for Experimental Light Chemistry and Engineering Education, Shaanxi University of Science &Technology, Xi'an 710021, China.
³ Xi'an Key Laboratory of Green Chemicals and Functional Materials, Xi'an 710021, China.

PMID: 38635343
DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.4c00611

Abstract

Designing and developing high-performance shielding materials against electromagnetic interference is of utmost importance due to the rapid advancement of wireless telecommunication technologies. Such materials hold both fundamental and technological significance. A three-stage process is presented for creating ultralight, flexible aerogels from biomass to shield against electromagnetic interference. Collagen fibers sourced from leather solid waste are used for: (i) freeze-drying preparation of collagen fibers/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) aerogels, (ii) adsorption of silver nanowires (AgNWs) onto collagen fiber/PVA aerogels, and (iii) Hydrophobic modification of collagen fiber/PVA/AgNWs aerogels with 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane (POTS). Scanning electron microscopy studies reveal that an interweaving of AgNWs and collagen fiber/PVA porous network has formed a conductive network, exhibiting an electrical conductivity of 10³ S·m^-1. The electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness reached more than 62 dB, while the density was merely 5.8 mg/cm³. The collagen fiber/PVA/AgNWs/POTS aerogel displayed an even better electromagnetic shielding efficiency of 73 dB and water contact angle of 147°. The study results emphasize the distinctive capacity of leather solid waste to generate cost-effective, ecofriendly, and highly efficient electromagnetic interference shielding materials.