Effect of Textile-Substrate Pore Size on Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Performance of Conductive Nanocomposite Coated Fabrics

Abstract

Textile-substrate electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials show great promise for next-generation electronic communication technology challenges. However, new strategies based on structure optimization are desired for improving EMI shielding performance. Here, we demonstrate the controlling effect of fabric structure on the shielding effectiveness of the EMI fabrics. Plain fabrics with different fabric densities were weaved and used as the substrate to be layer-by-layer assembled by graphite oxide (GO) and polypyrrole (PPy). The conductive GO/PPy nanocomposite coating endows commercial cotton fabrics with an EMI shielding ability. In comparison, the EMI shielding effectiveness of the GO/PPy fabrics is depended on the fabric density, that is, the pore size. The EMI shielding effectiveness of the 100 × 100 picks/ 10cm coated fabric was 19.2 dB in 3.9−6.0 GHz frequency range, which is increased by about 71% through the control of the textile-substrate pore size. Interestingly, the EMI shielding effectiveness always peaks at the fabric density of 100 × 100 picks/ 10cm, different from the electrical conductivity. Moreover, the sueding treatment can further improve the EMI shielding effectiveness of the GO/PPy coated fabrics. It is because that the creation of plush increases the multi-reflection of electromagnetic waves in the fabric. This work presents the significance of fabric structure to EMI shielding performance, offering new opportunities for the development of high efficiency EMI shielding fabrics.