Flexible and efficient MXene/PANI/aramid fabrics with high interface durability for wearable electromagnetic wave shielding

The electromagnetic pollution of electronic equipment has a negative impact on the health of aircrews working in special environments. Yet wearable electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials capable of versatility still a challenge. Herein, an effective strategy is developed to construct MXene/PANI/aramid fabric by growing vertically aligned polyaniline (PANI) nanowire arrays on the aramid fabric through impregnating with highly conductive MXene nanosheets to avoid the new accumulation/aggregation of MXene followed by simple polyetherimide (PEI) dipping packaging. In-situ polymerization of PANI solved the problem of weak interaction between inert aramid fiber and MXene to some extent, while PEI packaging solves the existing problem of easy-to-fall MXene nanosheets. The final prepared single-layer composite fabric has suitable highest EMI shielding efficiency value of 31.87 dB, good washing resistance and excellent bending stability (only 4% of the conductivity decreases after 1000 bends). This study provides a simple and easy large-scale method to fabricate multifunctional wearable fabrics to meet the practical application in EMI shielding area.