Enhanced flexible polypropylene fabric with silver/magnetic carbon nanotubes coatings for electromagnetic interference shielding

Flexible and excellent electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials have attracted increasing attention due to the rapid development of intelligent flexible electronic. Herein, the lightweight, flexible, conductive and efficient EMI shielding silver (Ag)/magnetic carbon nanotubes (mCNTs) composite coatings were decorated on polypropylene (PP) fabrics via a facile spray deposition technique. The mCNTs were fabricated with hydrogen bonding between Fe3O4 and functionalized CNTs. The conductivity and EMI shielding properties of the Ag/mCNTs composite coatings were significantly enhanced by the introduction of mCNTs. In the frequency of 8.2-12.4 GHz, the Ag/mCNTs composite coatings possessed superior EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) of 61.1 dB and specific SE (SSE/t) of 2811.78 dB cm(2)/g, which also displayed great stability, maintaining 91.6%, 80.2% and 69.8% of EMI SE after washing, abrasion and bending tests. Therefore, the Ag/mCNTs coated PP fabrics can be a reliable candidate to explore high-performance EMI shielding flexible electronic.

Automated summary

The novel Ag/mCNTs composite coatings, prepared on PP fabrics, exhibit excellent flexibility, conductivity, and EMI shielding properties, providing new possibilities for high-performance EMI shielding flexible electronics.