Layered cotton/rGO/NiWP fabric prepared by electroless plating for excellent electromagnetic shielding performance

Abstract

Layered cotton/rGO/NiWP fabric (C/rGO/NiWP) with excellent electrical conductivity and electromagnetic shielding performance was successfully prepared by firstly graphene grafting and then NiWP electroless plating. The design of this layer-by-layer structure fully demonstrated the synergistic effect of wave reflection and wave absorption. The features of C/rGO fabric and C/rGO/NiWP fabric were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman analysis, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Furthermore, electrical conductivity could reach 0.78 Ω/sq surveyed by four-point probe square resistance tester and shielding effectiveness is 72 dB measured by Agilent E5063A ENA vector network analyzer. Moreover, the mechanical properties which are important in practical use are tested as well. Based on a series of tests, we have drawn a reliable conclusion that the composite fabrics have excellent application potential in the field of electromagnetic wave protection.