Fabrication of highly conductive polyester fabrics using single-wall carbon nanotubes inks for EMI shielding

Abstract We have fabricated single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT)-coated electrically conductive polyester fabric using a low-temperature (LT) dip-and-dry method. Polyester fibers are suitable for industrial applications because of their higher heat resistance. We focused on the surface modification of polyester fibers using N,N-dimethyl-formamide solvent and then improved the adhesion of the SWCNT to polyester fibers. The low sheet resistance of 4.3 ± 0.3 Ω sq −1 was achieved while maintaining the intrinsic flexibility and durability of polyester fabrics by using the LT dip-and-dry method. Moreover, we demonstrated the electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding using the fabricated electrically conductive polyester fabric. The EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) was measured in the frequency ranges of 8–12 GHz using waveguides and a vector network analyzer. The measured SE of the fabricated electrically conductive polyester fabric was about −34 dB and fulfilled the requirement for practical EMI shielding.