Flexible, superhydrophobic and highly conductive composite based on non-woven polypropylene fabric for electromagnetic interference shielding

Electromagnetic pollution often causes disturbances to nearby electronic apparatus and also severely threatens people's health, and it is therefore urgent to develop electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials. However, preparation of EMI shielding materials with lightweight, good flexibility, superior corrosion-resistance, excellent EMI shielding performance remains challenging. Here, a facile method is proposed to prepare flexible, superhydrophobic and highly conductive polymer composite fabrics for the EMI shielding. The polydopamine (PDA) is first decorated onto the fabric surface, and the functional groups in the PDA could promote the Ag precursor adsorption. The electrically conductive PP fabric becomes superhydrophobic and anti-corrosive after further treatment with a fluorine containing molecule. The average shielding effectiveness (SE) and specific SE (SSE) of the composite fabric could reach as high as 48.2 dB and 209.56 dB cm³ g⁻¹ at the frequency of 8.2–12.4 GHz, respectively, which could even be maintained after the composite fabric undergoes cyclic abrasion and bending tests. Furthermore, the superhydrophobic surface ensures the reliability of the conductive fabric as shielding materials when they are used in harsh conditions.