The optimization of nanocomposite coating with polyaniline coated carbon nanotubes on fabrics for exceptional electromagnetic interference shielding

With the flourishing development of electronic technologies, high-performance electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding textile-substrate materials are urgently needed to protect human beings as well as precision devices from EMI radiation. In this work, polyaniline (PANI) coated carbon nanotubes (CNTs) coating is deposited on a commercial fabric to achieve an exceptional EMI shielding performance. After the combination of CNTs and PANI by the in-situ polymerization of PANI on the surface of CNTs, a compact coating is obtained and thus forms a high-efficiency conducive network. The PANI coated CNT (CNT@PANI) nanowires are further confirmed by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The sheet resistance of CNT@PANI coated fabric reaches as low as 20.1 +/- 1.7 Omega/sq, a decline by one order of magnitude from both CNT coated and PANI coated fabric. The construction of efficient conducive network endows the CNT@PANI coated fabric an exceptional EMI SE of 23.0 dB, a dramatical increase from those of CNT coated and PANI coated fabric. Simultaneously, the CNT@PANI coated fabric exhibits a high absorption ratio of the incident electromagnetic energy (around 60%), indicating the coated fabric is eco-friendly with distinguished EMI shielding performance. Moreover, the obtained fabric possesses washing stabilities under various conditions, showing practicability of the shielding fabric. This work demonstrates the huge advantage for the structural optimization in the conducive coating for an efficient conducive network and high EMI shielding performance and provides a simple and convenient approach for the fabrication of new textile-substrate EMI shielding materials.