In this work, the engineered polyaniline (PANI)/epoxy composites reinforced with PANI-M (physical mixture of PANI spheres and fibers) exhibit significantly enhanced electromagnetic wave absorption performance and mechanical property. Due to the synergistic effect of PANI fillers with different geometries, the reflection loss of 10.0 wt% PANI-M/epoxy could reach − 36.8 dB at 17.7 GHz. Meanwhile, the mechanical properties (including tensile strength, toughness, and flexural strength) of PANI/epoxy were systematically studied. Compared with pure epoxy, the tensile strength of epoxy with 2.0 wt% PANI-M was improved to 86.2 MPa. Moreover, the PANI spheres (PANI-S) and PANI fibers (PANI-F) were prepared by the chemical oxidation polymerization method and interface polymerization method, respectively. The characterizations including scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectra, and X-ray diffraction were applied to analyze the morphology and chemical and crystal structures of PANI filler. This work could provide the guideline for the preparation of advanced engineered epoxy nanocomposites for electromagnetic wave pollution treatment. Graphical abstract

Ti₂AlC has been investigated for several decades, but much less attention has been paid to its delamination and potential energy storage applications, mainly due to the difficulty of delamination and its oxidation features.

The higher capacitance and excellent cyclability is attributed to the synergistic effect of MoO₃ nanoparticles and 2D Ti₃C₂T_x.

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials have received considerable attention in recent years. The EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) of materials depends on not only their composition but also their microstructures. Among various microstructure prototypes, porous structures provide the advantages of low density and high terahertz wave absorption. In this study, by using carbonised wood (CW) as a template, 1-mm-thick MAX@CW composites (Ti₂AlC@CW, V₂AlC@CW, and Cr₂AlC@CW) with a porous structure were fabricated through the molten salt method. The MAX@CW composites led to the formation of a conductive network and multilayer interface, which resulted in improved EMI SE. The average EMI SE values of the three MAX@CW composites were > 45 dB in the frequency of 0.6–1.6 THz. Among the composites, V₂AlC@CW exhibited the highest average EMI SE of 55 dB.