Synergistic Integration of Ferroelectric Polarization and Dual-Conductivity Gradient for Absorption-Dominant Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

Abstract Absorption-dominant electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding requires impedance matching at the material−air interface and strong internal energy dissipation. Structural strategies (porous architectures, conductivity gradients) and intrinsic loss mechanisms (ferroelectric polarization) have each been explored, but their synergistic integration within a single scalable laminate remains an open challenge. Here we demonstrate a hierarchical multilayer architecture in which a polarized vanadium-doped ZnO/PVDF ferroelectric interlayer is co-integrated with a porous PVDF impedance-matching layer and a dual-conductivity Ti3C2Tx MXene/PVDF gradient base by sequential hot pressing, yielding a cohesive 2.2 mm composite. The porous surface minimizes initial reflection while promoting internal multiple scattering, the ferroelectric interlayer dissipates transmitted energy through dipole polarization and dielectric relaxation, and the conductivity gradient amplifies absorption through interfacial polarization and stepwise Ohmic loss. Notably, the ferroelectric interlayer occupies only ∼11% of the total thickness yet delivers a per-unit-thickness absorption enhancement 1.51× that of the remaining 1.95 mm combined. The optimized architecture achieves an EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) of 63 dB and an absorption coefficient of 0.80 across the X-band, with low surface reflection (R ≈ 0.20) and a thickness-normalized SE of 286 dB/cm. This work provides a rational framework for combining structural impedance matching with intrinsic ferroelectric loss in absorption-dominant EMI shielding materials.