Improving the electromagnetic shielding of nickel/polyaniline coated polytrimethylene-terephthalate knitted fabric by optimizing the electroless plating conditions

To solve electromagnetic interference of electronic devices and health issues by the expansion of the electronic industry and the extensive use of electronic equipment, flexible and stretchable conductive elastic textiles are beneficial. This study prepared conductive Ni/polyaniline (PANi)/polytrimethylene-terephthalate (PTT) composite fabric by in situ chemical polymerization and electroless nickel plating. Their direct current electrical resistance and the shielding efficiency energy were tested. Furthermore, the effect of electroless plating conditions was investigated on surface resistivity and electromagnetic shielding effectiveness (EMSE) of the composite fabric, and the correlation between electrical resistivity and EMSE was explored. The results show that the shielding efficiency energy of Ni/PANi/PTT composite fabric optimized can reach more than 40 dB and at a given frequency it has an inverse parabolic relation with the electroless plating conditions. In addition, when the electroless plating conditions is the determinant, the SE has little change in the electromagnetic wave frequency, especially in the frequency range of 600 MHz or more. It is concluded that the EMSE of the Ni/PANi/PTT conductive fabrics could be tailored by modifying the chemical reagent contents in the electroless plating solution.