Click electroless plating of nickel nanoparticles on polyester fabric: Electrical conductivity, magnetic and EMI shielding properties

Most textile materials are electrically insulating. The metallization of a textile can greatly increase their electrical conductivity for application in wearable electronic devices and smart textiles. The electrically conductive fabric can successfully turn them to the electromagnetic shielding materials. Up to now, different methods have been reported for preparing conductive textiles mostly used costly treatment in special equipment produced rough and unpleasant handle. This work is aimed at synthesizing nickel nanoparticles on the surface of polyester fabric via costly effective chemicals through click electroless plating using a simple and easy method that called Click Finishing to achieve the product with an ideal electrical conductivity, magnetic and EMI shielding properties. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images and X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns verified the formation of nickel nanoparticles on the polyester fabric surface. The treated sample produced an electrical resistivity of lower than 2 Omega with incorporation of nickel nanoparticles. Moreover, the mechanical properties, antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli as a Gram negative and Staphylococcus aureus as a Gram-positive bacteria, thermogravimetric analysis, magnetic properties and EMI shielding of the samples were studied and the superior results obtained on the treated sample. Magnetization measurements revealed the saturation magnetization of 14 emu/g for the treated polyester fabric resulted in the noticeable improvement in the magnetic properties. Further, the shielding studies over a frequency range of 8.4 - 12.4 GHz indicated 100% shielding for the nickel treated fabric. These promising results can be notice for the great potential applications in the various fields of industries.