Stretchable Liquid Metal-Based Conductive Textile for Electromagnetic Interference Shielding

Abstract

Conductive textiles (CTs) are promising electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials. Nevertheless, limited stretchability and poor reliability restrict their potential applications in stretchable electronic devices because of the rigid conductive networks. Herein, a highly stretchable and reliable CT is developed for effective EMI shielding by designing a deformable liquid-metal (LM) coating and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) protective layer. The resultant PDMS-LM/Textile exhibits an outstanding EMI shielding efficiency (EMI SE) of 72.6 dB at a thickness of only 0.35 mm while maintaining EMI SEs of 66.0 and 52.4 dB under strains of 30 and 50%, respectively. The corresponding EMI SEs hold 91.7 and 80.3% retention after 5000 stretching−releasing cycles, respectively. The superior and durable EMI SE should be ascribed to the perfect connectivity and good deformability of conductive LM networks. Moreover, the LM coating has a robust fastness to the textile substrate, without any obvious decrease in EMI SE after 10 min of ultrasonic treatment and 100 peeling cycles because of the protective effect of the PDMS layer. This work provides a novel route to developing highly stretchable CTs for advanced EMI shielding applications, especially in the field of highly stretchable electronic devices.

Mapping the Progress in Flexible Electrodes for Wearable Electronic Textiles: Materials, Durability, and Applications

“…Finally, liquid metal‐coated textile was encapsulated with PDMS to prevent the surface from mechanical scraping. [ 22 ] The uniformity of LMs on the textile interior was proved from the cross‐sectional SEM image. With the increase of LMs areal density, electron transport paths on textile were proportionally increased and a maximum electrical conductivity of ≈14 605 S m ‐1 was achieved after using 28.5 mg cm ‐2 of LMs.…”

“…Figure illustrates the different textile architectures produced by different manufacturing techniques and their basic characteristics. These textile architectures produced from both natural and synthetic polymers are used as a substrate for emerging applications like energy storage, [ 17,18 ] sensing, [ 19 ] transistors, [ 20 ] biopotential monitoring, [ 21 ] electromagnetic shielding, [ 22 ] and heating [ 23 ] etc. However, the fabrication process of fiber and fabric‐based electronics is very challenging using electronic processing techniques like lithography due to their highly curved geometries and rough surfaces.…”

Robust, flexible, and high-performance electromagnetic interference shielding films with long-lasting service

“…Satisfactory performance stability is a critical factor for evaluating the application value of CPC-based EMI shielding materials under harsh external environments, e.g., mechanical deformation, strong alkali and acid solutions, peeling off and long exposure to air. 25,[36][37][38] The bending stability of CSNPU 5 paper was tested and is shown in Fig. 6a.…”

Tailoring Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Performance of Conductive Nanocomposite Coating Using Textile Substrates

“…Many efforts have been devoted to the exploration of the coated EMI shielding fabrics, in view of the easy processing and broad application of the coating technologies. [ 14–16 ] As such, the high‐efficiency EMI fabric necessitates excellent electrical conductivity. To this end, increasing the loading content of nanofillers [ 17,18 ] and optimizing the dispersion and distribution of nanofillers [ 19,20 ] have been employed to enhance the electrical conductivity and EMI shielding performance.…”