The present work deals with the development of electrically conductive cotton fabrics by in-situ deposition of copper particles. The dynamic light scattering, scanning electron microscope, and X-ray diffraction techniques were employed to study the morphology of deposited copper particles. The utility of conductive fabrics was analyzed for electromagnetic shielding ability over frequency range of 30 MHz to 1.5 GHz. The electromagnetic interference shielding was found to increase with increase in number of dips, which was attributed to increased reflection of EM waves due to dense, uniform, and percolated network of conductive copper particles on the surface. The sample produced from 100 and 150 dips exhibited the maximum shielding ability of 10 dB and 13 dB, respectively. Furthermore, the role of deposited copper particles on antibacterial properties was examined against pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The S. aureus showed more sensitivity towards copper particles as zone of inhibitions increased from 9.5 to 15.5 mm. At the end, the durability of fabrics was examined against washing after application of binder. The fabrics showed good retention of the copper particles, proved by scanning electron microscopic microstructures and small loss in the conductivity of the material after washing.

In this study, 32 different electro-conductive fabrics and seven different non-conductive fabrics were taken for an analysis of their electromagnetic shielding ability, electrical resistivity and air permeability. According to the present state of development of electromagnetic shielding textile structures, a diverse set of samples was selected, including stainless steel, copper, silver, aluminum, carbon and polypyrrole as a conductive component. The ASTM D4935 coaxial transmission line method was used to study the electromagnetic shielding and the ASTM D257 ring electrode method was used to evaluate the surface and volume electrical resistivity of all the samples. Air permeability was considered as an additional important parameter for the production of electromagnetic radiation protective fabrics designed for technical or clothing applications. It was confirmed that textile structures made of conventional textile fibers are transparent to an electromagnetic field. The electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of non-conductive samples is less than 0.2 dB regardless of material composition. On the other hand, the electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of electro-conductive samples containing different content and types of conductive component ranges from 1 to 79 dB at the high-frequency range, whereas the woven sample containing 75 wt% of staple metal fiber provides excellent shielding ability together with high air permeability. It was confirmed that, in particular, the surface resistivity can be used to predict the electromagnetic shielding ability of fabric samples due to a strong inverse relationship between these two parameters.

The augmented demands of textile materials over time have brought challenges in the disposal of substantial volumes of waste generated during the processing and end of life of such materials. Taking into consideration environmental safety due to discarding of textile waste, it becomes critical to recuperate useful products from such waste for economic reasons. The present work deals with the preparation of porous and electrically conductive activated carbon fabric by a novel single stage method of simultaneous carbonization and physical activation of Kevlar feedstock material procured from local industries, for effective electromagnetic (EM) shielding applications. The Kevlar fabric waste was directly carbonized under a layer of charcoal without any intermediate stabilization step at 800 °C, 1000 °C, and 1200 °C, with a heating rate of 300 °C/h and without any holding time. The physical and morphological properties of the activated carbon, influenced by carbonization process parameters, were characterized from EDX, X-ray diffraction, SEM analysis, and BET analysis. Furthermore, the electrical conductivity was analyzed. Finally, the potential application of the activated material for EM shielding effectiveness was analyzed at low (below 1.5 GHz) and high (2.45 GHz) frequencies. The phenomena of multiple internal reflections and absorption of electromagnetic radiations was found dominant in the case of activated carbon fabric produced at higher carbonization temperatures.

The development of lightweight flexible materials for electromagnetic interference shielding has received increased attention in recent years, particularly for clothing or technical applications and especially in areas of aircraft, aerospace, automobiles and flexible electronics, such as portable electronics and wearable devices. There are many references in the literature concerning the development and investigation of electromagnetic shielding lightweight flexible materials, especially those that are textile based with different electrically conductive additives. However, little attention has been paid to the problems related to the performance of developed electromagnetic shielding materials for clothing in use, above all wet processing (washing and drying). The main aim of this paper is a description of the influence of washing/drying cycles on the fundamental properties of metal fiber-containing fabrics. Changes in electromagnetic shielding ability and electric conductivity after washing/drying cycles were studied and also other characteristics, such as pilling, changes in mass per unit area and thickness of conductive fabrics, were evaluated. For the purpose of this study, fabrics with different structures (knitted, woven) containing extremely thin stainless steel staple fibers incorporated to the yarn structure as the conductive filler were chosen. For quantification of the influence of the washing/drying cycles on the above-mentioned characteristics, regression methods and simple t-tests were used. Both knitted and woven fabrics withstood satisfactory repeated application of wet processing with respect to the main requirement – electromagnetic shielding ability; in addition, woven fabrics exceeded in higher electrical conductivity, higher shielding effectiveness and lower inclination to pilling and therefore can be used for the production of protective cloth.