Conductive poly (o-anisidine)/poly (ethylene terephthalate) nonwoven composite: Investigation of synthesis parameters and electromagnetic shielding effectiveness

A conductive poly(o-anisidine) (POA)/poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) nonwoven composite was prepared by chemical oxidative polymerization of o-anisidine in aqueous HCl solution. The effects of the oxidant type, oxidant/monomer mol ratio, and polymerization temperature and time were studied on POA content and surface resistivity of the composite. It was observed that the swelling of PET in 1,4-dioxane decreased the surface resistivity of the POA/PET composite by up to 18.5k/cm(2), when compared to that of the unswollen PET nonwoven. According to the electromagnetic shielding effectiveness (EMSE), and the relative shielding efficiency of the absorbance (A(b)) and reflectance (R-e) values of the composite in the range 15-1500MHz, 99.9% of the shielding was obtained with an attenuation of 33dB at 15MHz. The durability of the composite was determined by measuring its surface resistivity after domestic washing and commercial laundering.