Washable and breathable ultrathin copper-coated nonwoven polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabric with chlorinated poly-para-xylylene (parylene-C) encapsulation for electromagnetic interference shielding application

Abstract

Electromagnetic interference shielding clothing has been developed for people who is sensitive to electromagnetic radiation or workers working under extremely high electromagnetic radiation circumstances. The challenge was developing the fabric with good washability, durability, and air permeability. After three machine washing cycles, the electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness can drop more than 99% for untreated copper-coated fabric. In this research, the chlorinated poly-para-xylylene (parylene C) encapsulating technology was used to protect the fiber's copper particles. The result shows that the treated sample's washing ability will significantly improve after processing 15 g parylene-C on the copper-coated fabrics. The electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness can remain at 39.93 dB and 25 dB on average from 30 MHz to 3 GHz after 10 hand washing cycles and 10 machine washing cycles, respectively. The air permeability remains around 1043.6 mm/s for a 15 g parylene-C encapsulated sample. The chemical resistance property was also improved significantly after encapsulation of 15 g parylene-C. For the 15 g parylene-C encapsulated samples, there is less than 3% loss of electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness after 8 h of immersing into pH = 2 and pH = 12 solution. The overall structure of the 15 g parylene-C encapsulated fabric remains intact after 6000 abrasion cycles. The study presents an effective method for fabricating highly durable, comfortable electromagnetic interference shielding fabric, guaranteeing reliability for technical clothing applications and showing great potential for further development.