Review

2018, Vol. 47(8) 2228–2252

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DOI: 10.1177/1528083716670310
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textile composites for

electromagnetic
interference shielding:
A review

Subhankar Maity and Arobindo Chatterjee

Abstract
This article reviews the preparation, development and characteristics of conductive poly-
mer-based electro-conductive textile composites for electromagnetic interference shield-
ing. Modification of ordinary textile materials in the form of electro-conductive
composites makes them suitable for this purpose. Various metallic and non-metallic
electro-conductive textiles have been explored here as the material for electromagnetic
shielding. Different approaches of preparing textile electromagnetic shield have been
described here. Recent advancements of application of conductive polymers in the field
of textile electromagnetic shielding are described. Conductive polymer-coated textile
materials showed superior electrical property as electromagnetic shield. Different meth-
ods of applications of conductive polymers onto textile surface are described here with
their relative merits and demerits. Different conductive polymer-coated woven and non-
woven fabrics prepared by various researchers for electromagnetic shielding are taken
into account. The effects of different process parameters of polymer processing on
electromagnetic shielding are described.

Keywords
Electro-conductive textile, electromagnetic interference shielding, composite fabrics,
coated fabrics, surface modification

Department of Textile Technology, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, India

Corresponding author:
Subhankar Maity, Department of Textile Technology, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology,
Jalandhar, Punjab 144011, India.
Email: [email protected]
Maity and Chatterjee 2229

Introduction
Electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding is a process of limiting the penetra-
tion of electromagnetic rays into a space by blocking them by a barrier made
of conductive material. It is a very popular method of protecting electronic and
electrical equipment and even people against electromagnetic radiation. The mater-
ial or protector which protects a body, environment or a circuit from harmful
electromagnetic radiation is called a shield. Shields are used either to isolate
a space (a room, an apparatus, a circuit, etc.) from outside sources of electromag-
netic radiation, or to prevent the unwanted emission of electromagnetic energy
radiated by internal sources. It is well known that exposure to long-term or
acute electromagnetic radiation can have harmful effects on human tissue [1–5],
and furthermore, electromagnetic radiation can interfere with certain bio-electronic
devices, such as pacemakers [6], and affect the lives of people. The recent prolifer-
ation of electronic devices, such as cell phones, and computer equipment, that emit
low levels of electromagnetic radiation, or interference, has significantly increased
the problem and created a need for everyday shielding garments. In this regard, a
variety of electromagnetic shielding fabrics and garments are produced to prevent
electromagnetic radiations [7–9].

Mechanism of electromagnetic shielding

When electromagnetic rays pass through a medium or object, they interact with
molecules of the medium or object. This phenomenon of interaction can be divided
into two major steps: (a) absorption attenuation and (b) attenuation due to reflec-
tion [8]. As the rays in forms of wave strike a conductive object, the charges in
the object are forced to oscillate at the same frequency of the incident wave. These
forced oscillating charges behave like antenna and cause reflection from the sur-
face. The signal wave may reflect in many directions depending upon the pattern
associated with a signal oscillating charge. Hence, the signal is scattered and there
is some signal loss. This mode of signal loss is called attenuation due to reflection.
There are also successive losses of signal in the depth of the layer of the medium.
It is called attenuation due to successive internal reflections. Again, the forced
oscillating charge loses some energy in the medium in terms of heat. This mode
of signal loss is known as attenuation due to absorption. Thus, electromagnetic
shields work on the basis of the above-mentioned two major electromagnetic mech-
anisms, viz. reflection from a conducting surface and absorption in a conductive
volume. An electromagnetic wave striking a conductive surface encounters both
types of loss [8,10,11]. The combined effect of these losses (reflection and absorp-
tion) determines the effectiveness of the shield as shown in Figure 1. Reflection
from an electromagnetic shield occurs when the impedance of the wave in free
space is different from the impedance of the electromagnetic wave in the shield.
This phenomenon is independent of the thickness of shield and is a function of
conductivity, magnetic permeability and frequency of the shield [11,12], whereas
electromagnetic shields made of electromagnetic absorbers attenuate undesirable
2230 Journal of Industrial Textiles 47(8)

Figure 1. Schematic representation of interaction between electromagnetic rays and a media or

an object.

electromagnetic waves and substantially dismiss electromagnetic radiation.

Shielding efficiency of this type of shield depends upon factors such as type of
material, its thickness, size, shape and orientation of apertures [12–14].

Electromagnetic shielding efficiency

Electromagnetic interference shielding efficiency (EMISE) value expressed in decibels
(dB) is defined as the ratio of the incident to transmitted power of the electromag-
netic wave [10,15]. Mathematically

P1 E1
SE ¼ 10 log ¼ 20 log ðdBÞ
P2 E2

where P1(E1) and P2(E2) are the incident power (incident electric field) and the
transmitted power (transmitted electric field), respectively.
By measuring the reflectance (Re) and the transmittance (Tr) of the material, the
absorbance (Ab) can be calculated using following equation

Ab ¼ 1  Tr  Re

where, Re and Tr are the square of the ratio of reflected (Er) and transmitted (Et)
electric fields to the incident electric field (Ei), respectively, as follows

Er 2 Et 2
Re ¼ , Tr ¼
Ei Ei
Maity and Chatterjee 2231

Preparation of textile EMI shield

Protection from electromagnetic radiation can be achieved by covering ourselves
with an electro-conductive media which can generate and transport free charges.
It is known that synthetic textile fibers such as polyester, polyamide, acrylic and
cellulose-acetate exhibit a very poor electrical conductivity and are hydrophobic in
nature. When these fiber masses are rubbed, static electricity is generated and accu-
mulates on the fibers [16,17]. Natural fibers, such as cotton, wool and silk, exhibit a
relatively high hydrophilic property and have relatively higher electric conductivity in
favor of static charge dissipation. They are suitable for static charge dissipation but
do not serve as effective electromagnetic shield [18]. For this purpose, metallic fibers,
or fibers coated with a metal, as an electrically conductive material are commonly
used [8,11,19–23]. Also, metal fibers are used during staple spinning to manufacture
electro-conductive yarns [23–26]. Those yarns are used in weaving or knitting to
produce electro-conductive fabrics. But the processing of those yarns is difficult
and they lose their textile properties [27]. These metallic fibers are not proved to
be satisfactory for practical use due to their poor recovery from bending and break-
age [7]. The breakage results in a decrease in the conductive effect of the metallic
fiber. Also, it is difficult to mix spin, mix weave or mix knit the metallic fibers with
organic polymer fibers. In case of textile fiber, yarn or fabric coated with a metal
layer by electro-plating technique, it is required to form a uniform and continuous
layer on the textile surface. In order to satisfy the above-mentioned requirement,
rather than other difficulties, the surface of the fiber is required to be smooth and
highly polished. Also, intensive care is required during coating operation to coat a
continuous layer of metal with uniform thickness. The requirement causes the cost of
the coating operation to be very high. Also, the metal-coated fiber has demerits in
terms of easy peeling off from the fiber during processing or use [28]. The fiber coated
with a polymer dope containing an electrically conductive material, such as carbon
black and silver particles, is also found unsatisfactory because the coating operation
is expensive and the coated layer is easily peeled off from the fiber during processing
[29,30]. When carbon black is used in dope mixing with polymer to spin a conductive
filament then at least 15% of carbon black is required based on the weight of the
fiber matrix polymer. This large amount of carbon black causes the fiber-forming
process to be difficult, complex and expensive. Also, it is impossible to contain the
carbon black inside the natural fibers. Many such limitations associated with proces-
sability, flexibility and durability could be successfully overcome by coating/applying
conducting polymers such as polyaniline, polypyrrole (PPy) and polythiophene on
textile substrates [31]. These conductive polymer-coated textile materials, owing to
their flexibility, durability, ease of preparation and application, are considered pro-
mising for shielding of electromagnetic radiation [7,32–34].

Metallization of textile materials

Textile fabrics have been coated with metals such as aluminum, copper, nickel,
silver and combination of them in industrial scale. The coating method employed
2232 Journal of Industrial Textiles 47(8)

mainly is chemical method [7,35]. Also, other methods such as laminating with
aluminum foils, dyeing with copper sulfide or electroless plating with certain metal-
lic components are used. Electroless metal plating is a non-electrolytic method
of deposition of metal from solution by mixed potential theory of combination
of oxidation and reduction processes [36]. This method has some advantages
such as coherent metal deposition, excellent conductivity and shielding effective-
ness. It is also applicable to complex-shaped insulating textile materials [36].
Surface modification and coating of fabrics using vapor deposition (PVD) technol-
ogies is relatively new [37]. PVD coating of woven or nonwoven fabrics is an important
step for producing a variety of new thin-film composites for new applications.
Depending on the evaporation conditions, PVD-coated fabrics can present quite dif-
ferent surface properties [37]. The shielding efficiency of these metalized textile fabrics
mainly works by principle of energy reflection and not its absorption. In many cases,
such a phenomenon is not satisfactory. Hence, there have been searches for materials
with greater capability of absorbing electromagnetic radiation.
In recent years, some patents have appeared which deal with the problem of
producing textile fabrics with ferromagnetic properties. Such products can be applied
as flexible screens for attenuating electromagnetic radiation to produce cores in
transformers, motors, generators, etc. and to produce filters to remove substances
showing magnetic properties from air and water [7]. Nonwoven materials with ferro-
magnetic coating showed electromagnetic shielding effectiveness (EMSE) of about
30 to 35 dB in the frequency range of 1000 to 2000 MHz [7]. Those materials are
proposed for applications of the camouflage of military objects, restricting the range
of fields emitted by devices such as shortwave and microwave diathermy.
Textile materials embedded with metallic wires and fibers are also explored as
EMI shield. The copper wire and stainless steel (SS) wire are wrapped with poly-
amide filaments to produce a hybrid conductive yarn which is found suitable for
weaving and knitting [19]. The co-woven-knitted and knitted fabrics produced
from these yarns show desired electromagnetic shielding properties [19]. Figure 2
shows the effect of single and multi-layer fabrics made of SS/polyester (40/60) spun
yarn on shielding effectiveness. In another study, polypropylene (PP) filaments are
wrapped on copper wire and polyamide filaments to produce the conductive yarn.
This yarn is utilized for warp and weft identically for manufacturing woven fabric
to obtain isotropic shielding behavior [38]. Shielding effectiveness of those isotropic
fabrics and laminated composites have been measured for a wide range of frequen-
cies from 30 to 1500 MHz. It is reported that the EMSE of woven fabrics increases
with increase of warp and weft density at all frequencies of incident radiation. Also,
the EMSE value of woven fabric increases with increase of conductive filler loading
in yarn at all frequencies of incident radiation. The shielding effectiveness of
a single layer is barely satisfactory for general applications and the multi-layer
fabrics provide adequate shielding effectiveness (20–55 dB) when the wave is nor-
mally incident and fabric thickness is >1.6 mm [38]. The EMSE increases as fabric
thickness increases and the tendency of EMSE keeps the similar shielding effect-
iveness at various frequencies as shown in Figure 3 [38]. The multi-layer structure
Maity and Chatterjee 2233

Figure 2. Shielding effectiveness (SE) of laminated SS/PET (40/60) woven fabrics [19].

Figure 3. Electromagnetic interference shielding efficiency of woven fabric at various layers

[38]. EMSE: electromagnetic shielding effectiveness.

of various thickness and SS fiber content are responsible for blocking the EMI at
different frequencies [19]. The different compositions of Cu/Zn/Sn-coated polyester
nonwoven (CNW) and Ni/Cu-coated PP nonwoven (SNW) show various shielding
effectiveness (SE) depending on incident frequency as shown in Figure 4.
2234 Journal of Industrial Textiles 47(8)

Figure 4. Shielding effectiveness (SE) of various metalized nonwovens [19].

The thickness of CNW is thicker than that of SNW. The fabric CNW having
higher shielding effectiveness can be attributed to different metal composition
and thickness [19].
Knitted fabric forms a good conductive network which can better stop the elec-
tromagnetic radiation and achieve shielding effectiveness [9]. The literature indicates
that knitted fabric reinforced polymer composites are suitable for making complex-
shaped components. Moreover, they display good impact energy absorption char-
acteristics. Electro-conductive composites are prepared by using knitted fabric as
reinforcing material [39]. PP is chosen as the matrix material and knitted glass
fibers as the reinforcement. Copper wires or staple yarns were incorporated as con-
ductive fillers to provide the composite material with the desired EMISE properties.
The EMISE of knitted composites is greatly influenced by the amount of copper in
the composite material, which can be varied by changing the knit structure, stitch
density and linear density of yarns used for knitting and inlaying [39–41].

Coating textiles with conductive polymer

Conducting polymers are a new class of organic materials which have extensive
delocalization of -electrons in a conjugated structure with wide applications
in number of technologies such as energy storage, molecular recognition, EMI
shielding, opto-electronic devices, corrosion protection, micro-wave absorption,
gas separation, sensors and heat generation [15, 35, 42–49]. Conjugated structures
are characterized by repeated units in which atomic valence is not satisfied by
covalent bonds. The valence electrons of adjacent carbon hetero-atoms (atoms
other than carbon and hydrogen) significantly overlap and form double bonds
that give rise to p-bonds. The p-electrons are de-localized over large segments of
Maity and Chatterjee 2235

* * NH *
* *
*
n n n
Polyacetylene Polyphenylene Polyaniline

R
* *

N
n
* * * *

S S
H n n

Polypyrrole Polythiophene Poly3-alkylhiophene

Figure 5. Chemical structure of some conductive polymers.

the polymer chain, which are responsible for the electronic properties of the con-
ductive polymers. The essential feature of the conducting polymers is that they
provide p-bands of delocalized molecular orbital within which full range of semi-
conductors and metal behavior can be achieved through the control of the degree
of band filling. Chemical structures of some of the commonly known conductive
polymers are shown in Figure 5. Among conducting polymers, polyaniline, PPy
and polythiophene have received wide spread attention because of their good envir-
onmental stability and conductivity [50–53]. The hetero atoms such as –N– or –S–
present in the polymer chain play an important role in the unique conduction
mechanism. Conducting polymers are difficult to process to form fiber or filament
due to the extensive delocalization of -electrons. So, different conducting com-
posites are produced by blending conducting polymers with conventional insulat-
ing polymers/materials so that the conducting composites retain the mechanical
properties of the conventional polymers and electrical conductivity of the conduct-
ing polymers [54].

Coating methods of conductive polymers onto textiles

A key requirement of synthesis of conducting polymers is that the conjugated
nature of the polymer should be conserved during the synthesis process. Due to
strong interaction within polymer chain, they are insoluble and do not melt. Hence,
they are difficult to spin to filaments or fibers. Again, lack of thermal stability
makes them unsuitable for hot molding process. So, they are very difficult to
apply onto textiles. In situ polymerization methods are found as most suitable
techniques in this regard. Electro-conductive textiles can be prepared by using in
situ chemical, in situ electrochemical, in situ vapor phase polymerization, in situ
polymerization in super critical fluid, solution coating processes, etc. [48,49,55–62].
2236 Journal of Industrial Textiles 47(8)

Figure 6. In situ chemical polymerization by single-bath process.

In situ chemical polymerization

The chemical polymerization is very simple. One of the key requirements
of this process is that the monomer should be soluble. For chemical polymer-
ization, solutions of monomer and a suitable oxidant (e.g. FeCl3) are mixed
together and subjected to constant stirring for prolonged duration. As a result,
oxidative polymerization occurs and polymers form in bulk. The coating of dif-
ferent materials with conducting polymers, i.e. polyaniline, PPy, polythiophene
and their derivatives, is possible by means of in situ chemical polymerization
[24,48,49,58,62–69]. The in situ chemical polymerization can be performed in sin-
gle- or a double-bath process. For single-bath process, monomer and oxidant
solutions are mixed in a single beaker and simultaneously textile substrate
is immersed into it as shown in Figure 6. For double-bath process, the textile
substrate is treated with monomer solution first and then the monomer-enriched
substrate is immersed into oxidant solution or vice versa as shown in Figure 7.
As polymerization begins, some polymers deposit on the textile substrate due
to adsorption and some present in the solution in bulk. As a result, the color
of the substrate as well as solution changes to greenish black which is
the color of the polymer [70]. In comparison to other in situ polymerization
methods, this method is simplest. The experimental set-up is very simple. It is
suitable for laboratory preparation as well as for mass production of conductive
textiles. The only requirement is that PPy should have some affinity to the
textile substrate used.
Maity and Chatterjee 2237

Figure 7. In situ chemical polymerization by double-bath process.

In situ electrochemical polymerization

Electrochemical polymerization is usually performed in a one-compartment cell
where two electrodes such as anode and cathode are connected with an external
power supply. The cell is provided with monomer solution with suitable electrolytes
and dopant as shown in Figure 8. In most of the cases, the electrolytes act as
dopants also. Electrochemical oxidation of monomer results in polymer films
deposited on anode surfaces. If anode surface is covered with a textile substrate,
then polymers will deposit on it [71]. The polymerization rate and yield depends
upon the material of electrode, types of solvent, electrolyte, supply voltage, tem-
perature, time, etc. [52,71]. Different electrolysis techniques can be used such as
potentiostatic (constant potential), galvanostatic (constant current) and potentio-
dynamic (potential scanning, i.e. cyclic voltammetry) methods. Potentiostatic and
galvanostatic methods are particularly suitable for mechanistic investigation nucle-
ation and the macroscopic growth of polymers. Potentiodynamic techniques, such
as cyclic voltammetry, correspond to a repetitive triangular potential waveform
applied at the surface of the electrode. This method has been mainly used to obtain
information about the redox processes involved in the early stages of the polymer-
ization reaction and to examine the electrochemical behavior of the polymeric film
after deposition [71]. The main limitation of this process is the size of the sample to
be prepared which is the size of the anode.

In situ vapor phase polymerization

Chemical vapor phase deposition of conducting polymers is a suitable process for
producing electro-conductive textile in two steps as follows. Impregnation of textile
is done in an aqueous solution of oxidant and dopant and followed by drying.
After that the fabric is exposed to monomer vapor for in situ polymerization.
A schematic diagram of in situ vapor polymerization technique is shown in
Figure 9. Vapor phase prepared fabrics show a high uniform polymer coating on
the fiber surface. As a result, the variability in surface resistivity minimized and
fastness to light and washing improved. But controlling of the add-on% is difficult
and equipment set-up is complicated [72–77].
2238 Journal of Industrial Textiles 47(8)

Figure 8. Schematic diagram of experimental set-up for electrochemical polymerization: (1)

polymerization bath, (2) monomer and electrolyte solution, (3) anode, (4) cathode, (5) electrical
wire, (6) power supply and (7) textile fabric affixed on anode surface.

Solution coating process

Conducting polymers are insoluble in most of the solvent available. But by graft-
ing, some functional group in the polymer chain can be made soluble in some
selected solvent. Synthesis of soluble PPy can be possible in the form of alkyl
PPys. Solubility increases with the increase of length of the alkyl chain attached
to the pyrrole ring without significantly affecting the conductivity. These soluble
alkyl pyrroles can be pre-packaged in aerosol cans or as commercially available
paints and applied directly to any surface in any desired pattern for intelligent
Maity and Chatterjee 2239

Figure 9. Experimental set-up of in situ vapor phase polymerization.

textile applications [78]. The main advantage of soluble conducting polymers is that
they can be directly applied to any substrate, which avoids exposure of the surfaces
to damaging oxidizing agents and fulfill the requirements for controlled laboratory
conditions [55].

In situ polymerization in super critical fluid

As discussed above, textile materials can successfully be covered by conducting
polymers. The washing of conductive polymer-coated textiles is still problematic
because after washing polymers lose conductivity. Improved washing conductivity
has been achieved using in situ polymerization of polyaniline and PPy in supercrit-
ical CO2 onto polyester and polyamide fibers [79,80]. The main advantage of using
this technology is that the environment of super critical fluid during polymerization
helps the substrate polymer to expand so that the pyrrole monomer can be able to
penetrate into it. As a result, a much durable electro-conductive textile can be
prepared. But, this process is costly and set-up is complicated.

Conductive polymer-coated textiles

Due to the metallic conductivity and many other unusual properties, conducting
polymers have become the focus of attention in material science. Coating of con-
ducting polymers on insulating fabrics makes them suitable for their possible appli-
cation as a novel material for EMI shielding [47,61,81,82]. Various textile fibers,
such as cotton, wool, viscose, cupro and lyocell, are made electro-conductive by
2240 Journal of Industrial Textiles 47(8)

means of in situ polymerization [55,72–76,83–89]. These fibers showed better per-

formance than metal fiber and powder-filled composites which are susceptible to
galvanic corrosion or loss of conductivity due to friction [35]. The chemical poly-
merization of pyrrole in the presence of textile fabric results in the formation of
electro-conductive fabrics which are reported suitable for EMI shielding [81,82,90].
The conducting polymers reflect and absorb radiation and generally have larger
absorption levels than reflection [35]. It is reported that the desired value of elec-
trical resistivity of an electromagnetic shield is less than 100 /cm2 [15,91,92]. The
specific resistance of wool yarn (40 tex, 400 twist per meter) is achieved 1.69 g/cm2
and that of for cotton yarn (40 tex, 500 twist per meter) is achieved 1.53 g/cm2 by
using continuous vapor phase polymerization of pyrrole with a FeCl3 solution con-
centration of 80 g/l [73]. A number of polymers containing the ‘‘ether link,’’ such as
polyethers, polylactones and polyetherlactones, form coordination complexes with
FeCl3. These complexes are placed in the vapor of pyrrole to initiate polymerization.
PPy composites obtained in this way have superior conductivity of 2–3  103 S
cm1 [93]. Also, polyaniline-coated polyester fabric of resistivity 5 k / has been
found suitable for EMI shielding [33]. In another study, PPy is coated over MnZn
ferrite (MZF), nickel coated over PPy and PPy coated over Ni-MZF magnetic core
particles, and these materials are found suitable for EMI shielding [47]. These textile
materials can be used as EMI-shielded cloth for concerned persons, RADAR barrier
shield for military purposes and other devices [83].

Conductive polymer-coated woven fabrics for electromagnetic shielding

The polymerization of aniline and pyrrole on insulating fabrics like polyester cloth,
glass fabrics and high silica cloth is carried out by in situ chemical polymerization.
In the radio frequency range from 100 to 1000 MHz, conducting polyaniline-coated
polyester fabrics show a shielding effectiveness in the range of 30–40 dB as shown in
Figure 10 [15]. The reflectance studies of conducting polyaniline-coated fabric show
that 98% of the energy is absorbed in the UV–Vis–NIR range and 2% is reflected
back. In PPy-coated fabric, 96% of energy is absorbed and 4% is reflected back,
whereas in polythiophene-coated fabric, 82% of the energy is absorbed and 18% is
reflected back [15]. An effective shield should absorb all the energy and nothing
reflects back. The shielding effectiveness of PPy-coated nylon/lycra fabric prepared
with an anthraquinone-2-sulfonic acid dopant is reported as 89.9% at 18 GHz [94].
PPy is polymerized chemically and electrochemically in sequence on a polyester
woven fabric, for preparation of a composite with very low electrical resistivity of
0.2 cm. EMISE measured with this composite is about 36 dB over a wide fre-
quency range up to 1.5 GHz as shown in Figure 11. It is found that the composite
shielded EMI by absorption as well as reflection and that EMI shielding through
reflection increases with the electrical conductivity [74] and 7% of the power of the
incident electromagnetic wave is absorbed by the composite [75]. Conducting PPy
films with high conductivity and good adhesion are successfully polymerized on the
surface of insulating epoxy resin substrates using chemical polymerization. Those
Maity and Chatterjee 2241

Figure 10. Shielding effectiveness of polyaniline-coated fabrics in the frequency range 100–1000
MHz [15].

Figure 11. EMISE absorbances (A) and reflectances (R) of PET fabric/PPy composites with
various specific volume resistivities [97]. EMISE: electromagnetic interference shielding efficiency.

films show EMISE in the useful range of about 30 dB over a wide frequency range
from 30 to 1500 MHz as shown in Figure 12 [95]. PPy-coated polyester and silica
fabric show EMISE of 21.48 and 35.51 dB, respectively, at a frequency of 101 GHz
[96]. The conductive fabric produced from PPy coating on glass fiber fabrics having
resistivity range below 500 / showed 98.67% to 99.23% signal loss in the fre-
quency range of 800–2400 MHz [83]. Those samples with low resistivity or high
conductivity show high shielding effectiveness compared to those samples with high
resistivity as shown in Figure 13. These fabrics are proposed for applications as
shield for household appliances, FM/AM radio broadcast sets, wireless phones,
2242 Journal of Industrial Textiles 47(8)

Figure 12. Shielding effectiveness of PPy film [95].

Figure 13. EMSE of PPy-coated glass fiber fabric as a function of electrical resistivity [83]. EMSE:
electromagnetic shielding effectiveness.

cellular phones, computers, buildings, secret rooms and various electronic gadgets
that operate up to 2.4 GHz frequency [83].
In another study, silver (Ag) is thermally vacuum-evaporated on the surface of
PPy–polyester complexes. The EMISE of fabric complexes increases as the area of
Ag evaporation layer increases. When the Ag is partially (approximately 37%)
evaporated on one side of fabric complexes, the EMISE is 29 dB at 0.5 GHz, and
while Ag is evaporated on total area of the sample the EMISE obtained is 33 dB at
the same frequency range. The EMISE and the absorbance/reflectance of the
Maity and Chatterjee 2243

Figure 14. EMISE of fabric complex with various Ag evaporation layer [98]. EMISE: electro-
magnetic interference shielding efficiency; PPy: polypyrrole.

shielding material can be controlled by the area and the array of the high conduct-
ing Ag layer and low conducting PPy layer as shown in Figure 14 [98]. PPy/Al2O3
textile nanocomposite is found suitable for effective EMI shield in the range of
8–12 GHz frequency and could be able to absorb more than 53% of microwave
radiation [60].

Conductive polymer-coated nonwoven fabrics for electromagnetic

shielding
EMISE of PPy-coated polyester hydro-entangled nonwoven textiles is studied in
the frequency range 100 to 800 MHz [99]. A positive correlation between the SE
and the surface conductivity of those nonwoven textiles is found. EMISE of 37 dB
was found for the sample with the lowest surface was resistivity of 3 / [99].
In another study, PPy-coated polyester nonwoven composite fabrics show effective
EMISE of 20 dB in 1 GHz frequency [100]. For these nonwoven fabrics coating
with Ag particles enhances the EMISE upto 55 dB and for multi-layer complexes
of those fabrics had EMISE of about 80 dB. PPy-coated nonwoven fabrics
are proposed for excellent radio frequency and microwave absorber because of
high absorbance and low reflectance [88]. It is reported that PPy-coated textile
fabrics of high conductivity show reflection dominant EMISE and that of low
conductivity showed absorption dominant EMISE [96]. EMISE of some conduct-
ive textile materials proposed as effective shield, as cited in literature, are tabulated
in Table 1.
2244 Journal of Industrial Textiles 47(8)

Table 1. Shielding effectiveness of various conductive textiles.

Testing References
Material Resistivity frequency EMSE [dB] no.

Metalized fabrics – 100 kHz 67, 75–80 [7]

to 1 GHz
PPy-coated fabrics Surface resistivity 3 V/ 800 MHz 37.02 [99]
PPy-coated polyester fabrics Volume resistivity 0.2 V-cm 1500 MHz 36.6 [97]
PPy-coated polyester fabrics Volume resistivity 0.3 V-cm 1500 MHz 35 dB [101]
PPy or poly Volume resistivity 0.3 V-cm 1500 MHz 36 [77]
(3,4-ethylenedioxythiopene-coated
polyester woven fabric
PPy-coated glass fabrics Surface resistivity 460 V/ 800 MHz 18.75 [83]
PPy-coated glass fabrics Surface resistivity 460 V/ 2.4 GHz 21.16 [83]
Ag/PPy-coated fabric complex – 80 [102]
PPy-coated cotton fabric Surface resistivity 1.18 MV/ 2500 MHz 01 [103]
Polyaniline-coated Volume resistivity 10–60 V.cm 101 GHz 21.48 [104]
polyester fabrics
Polyaniline-coated silica fabrics Volume resistivity 10–28 V.cm 101 GHz 35.61 [104]
Co-weaved/knitted fabrics – 100 kHz 40–50 [19]
to 1 GHz
Metalized nylon Surface resistivity 0.09 V/ 800 MHz 67.04 [99]
Twill PPy coated Surface resistivity 40 V/ 800 MHz 16.8 [99]
PPy/Chitosan composite film Linear resistivity 0.0145 Vcm1 1200 MHz 32.15–35.66 [43]
PPy blended hot melt adhesives Linear resistivity 0.2 Vcm1 300 MHz 30 [105]
Boron and carbon fabrics – 1200 MHz 30 [11]

Note: PPy: polypyrrole.

Figure 15. EMSE of PPy-coated fabrics with various FeCl3 concentrations [103]. EMSE: elec-
tromagnetic shielding effectiveness.
Maity and Chatterjee 2245

Figure 16. Reflection (bottom three) and absorption (top three) percentages for three selected
samples. PTSA concentrations and polymerization times are indicated [67].

Effects of different process parameters on EMI shielding

EMSE values of the PPy-coated cotton fabrics at different FeCl3 concentrations
can be seen in Figure 15. For each concentration, the highest value was at a fre-
quency of 200 MHz. A remarkable decline in shielding values can be seen in the
frequency range of 200–800 MHz. The shielding behavior of the samples shows
almost a linear shielding effect between 800 and 1800 MHz. Afterwards, a slight
increase from 1800 to 2500 MHz and then a slight decrease to 300 MHz were
observed [103].
The effects of concentration of p-toluene sulphonic acid (PTSA) as dopant and
polymerization time on EMSE of conducting polymer-coated textiles in the fre-
quency range 1–18 GHz are investigated and result the is shown in Figure 16.
The levels of absorption are higher than the levels of reflection in all the tested
samples and absorption is relatively even throughout the frequency range for dif-
ferent concentrations of dopants and polymerization times. Reflection increases
with increase in dopant concentration and polymerization time due to the increase
in conductivity. The reflection values are more dispersive than the absorption and
at the long polymerization times, the reflection increases throughout the frequency
range [67]. It is reported that the shielding effectiveness of the PPy samples
2246 Journal of Industrial Textiles 47(8)

prepared in the presence of surfactant increases with the increment of that surfac-
tant concentration [106].
Chitosan when used as an additive can improve EMISE, electrical conductivity
and thermal diffusivity of the PPy film [43]. The optimum concentration of
Chitosan for the best conductivity is 0.7% (w/v) but after that, the conductivity
decreased with further increase in Chitosan concentration. This is due to the fact
that in the concentrations more than 0.7% (w/v) of Chitosan is highly viscose
solution and for that the rate of polymerization was very slow and the amount
of deposited polymer was much lower which led to low conductivity.

Conclusions
The electronic devices, such as cell phones and computer equipments emit electro-
magnetic radiation. Exposure to long-term or acute electromagnetic radiation can
have harmful effects on human tissue, brain and can interfere with certain bio-
electronic devices, such as pacemakers. Even electronic instruments, microproces-
sors and devices are also affected by electromagnetic rays and produce erroneous
results. In this regard, a variety of electromagnetic shielding composite fabrics
are developed to get protection from electromagnetic rays. Various approaches
have been adopted by researchers to prepare electro-conductive textile materials
for effective electromagnetic shield. Conductive particles such as copper, silver or
even carbon are applied onto textile material as surface coating by suitable tech-
niques to prepare electro-conductive textiles for electromagnetic shielding.
The shielding efficiency of these metalized textile fabrics mainly works in principle
of energy reflection. In many cases, such reflection phenomenon produces interfer-
ence which is not desirable and the performance of the shielding material is unsat-
isfactory. Hence, there have been searches for materials with greater capability of
absorbing electromagnetic radiation. In this regard, metal fibers are incorporated
in woven, knitted and nonwoven structures in various forms and thickness and
tested for EMISE in the view of absorption attenuation. Later, conductive poly-
mers such as polyacetylene, PPy and polyaniline are applied to textile materials and
hence prepared textile composites are proven to give satisfactory results.
Conductive polymer-coated electro-conductive textiles can be prepared by various
techniques such as in situ chemical, in situ electrochemical, in situ vapor phase
polymerization, solution coating and in situ polymerization in super critical fluid. It
is found that these conductive polymer-coated composites work on the principle of
absorption of electromagnetic rays rather than reflection. EMISE of these conduct-
ive polymer-coated composite textiles depends upon the concentrations of FeCl3,
dopant, surfactant, etc. during processing. Various researchers reported that these
textiles are suitable as effective EMI shield for various range of frequencies.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, author-
ship, and/or publication of this article.
Maity and Chatterjee 2247

Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication
of this article.

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