Segregated conductive polymer composites have been proved to be outstanding electromagnetic interference shielding (EMI) materials at low filler loadings. However, due to the poor interfacial adhesion between the pure conductive filler layers and segregated polymer granules, the mechanical properties of the segregated composites are usually poor, which limit their application. Herein, a simple and effective approach, the partial dissolution method, has been proposed to fabricate segregated poly(arylene sulfide sulfone) (PASS)/graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) composites with superior EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) and high tensile strength. Morphology examinations revealed that the GNPs were restricted in the dissolved outer layer by the undissolved cores, and there was a strong interaction between the PASS/GNP layer and the pure PASS core. The resultant PASS/GNP composites showed excellent electrical conductivity (60.3 S m-1) and high EMI SE (41 dB) with only 5 wt% GNPs. More notably, the tensile strength of the PASS/GNPs prepared by partial dissolution reached 36.4 MPa, presenting 136% improvement compared to that of the conventional segregated composites prepared by mechanical mixing. The composites also exhibited high resistance to elevated temperatures and chemicals owing to the use of the special engineering polymer PASS as a matrix.
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