LAUSR

Large-area, lightweight, ultra-flexible, and robust crosslinked MXene-coated PI porous composites were manufactured via a scalable and facile approach. In addition to the hydrophobicity, anti-oxidation and extreme-temperature stability, excellent electromagnetic interference shielding performance was achieved because of the high-efficiency utilization of the building units and microstructure. Moreover, the highly flexible composite foams exhibited excellent electrothermal and electromechanical sensing performance, demonstrating promising perspectives in next-generation flexible electronics, aerospace, and smart devices. Lightweight, ultra-flexible, and robust crosslinked transition metal carbide (Ti 3 C 2 MXene) coated polyimide (PI) (C-MXene@PI) porous composites are manufactured via a scalable dip-coating followed by chemical crosslinking approach. In addition to the hydrophobicity, anti-oxidation and extreme-temperature stability, efficient utilization of the intrinsic conductivity of MXene, the interfacial polarization between MXene and PI, and the micrometer-sized pores of the composite foams are achieved. Consequently, the composites show a satisfactory X-band electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness of 22.5 to 62.5 dB at a density of 28.7 to 48.7 mg cm −3 , leading to an excellent surface-specific SE of 21,317 dB cm 2  g −1 . Moreover, the composite foams exhibit excellent electrothermal performance as flexible heaters in terms of a prominent, rapid reproducible, and stable electrothermal effect at low voltages and superior heat performance and more uniform heat distribution compared with the commercial heaters composed of alloy plates. Furthermore, the composite foams are well attached on a human body to check their electromechanical sensing performance, demonstrating the sensitive and reliable detection of human motions as wearable sensors. The excellent EMI shielding performance and multifunctionalities, along with the facile and easy-to-scalable manufacturing techniques, imply promising perspectives of the porous C-MXene@PI composites in next-generation flexible electronics, aerospace, and smart devices.