Ultrathin, flexible, conductive silver nanowires@polyvinyl alcohol composite film fabricated via the combination of air plasma treatment and thermal sintering for electromagnetic interference shielding.

• AgNWs@PVA composite films were fabricated via a unique combination method. • The AgNWs@PVA film shows high EMI SE of 55 dB at 11 μm ultra-low thickness. • The AgNWs@PVA film retains excellent stability after 2000 bending cycles. It remains still a challenge to prepare thin, flexible, conductive films for electromagnetic interference shielding, which are highly desired in next-generation electronic applications such as aerospace, medical and wearable devices, etc. Herein, silver nanowires@polyvinyl alcohol (AgNWs@PVA) composite films were fabricated via a unique combination of air plasma treatment followed by thermal sintering of AgNWs network. The prepared composite ultra-thin film (11 µm) with 24.2 wt% of AgNWs displays relatively low density of 1.58 g cm−3. Remarkably, the sheet resistance and electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness are separately achieved to 0.29 Ω/sq and 55 dB at the measured frequency range of 8.2 GHz to 12.5 GHz. These traits underscore a significant promising prospect of AgNWs@PVA film in the modern flexible electronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]