Functional polyester fabric/polypyrrole polymer composites for electromagnetic shielding: Optimization of process parameters

Intrinsically conducting polymer polypyrrole/polyester textile composites were prepared by in situ chemical oxidative polymerization of polypyrrole on a polyester fabric. As an oxidizing agent ferric chloride was used, p-toluenesulfonic acid was used as a dopant. Polymerization conditions (concentration of monomer, polymerization time and temperature) were investigated and optimized by the help of Design of experiment methodology to obtain fabric with electromagnetic shielding efficiency at least 12 dB for frequency 1.5 GHz. Moreover, weight increase, macroscopic color shade of images and scanning electron microscopy images of samples were evaluated. It was found that all selected factors and their interactions have statistically significant effect on resulting electromagnetic shielding effectiveness, whereas monomer concentration has the highest positive influence. Experimental data were used to derive an empirical model linking the output and inputs. Optimized parameters (polymerization temperature 6.7℃, polymerization time 10 h and monomer concentration 5.8 g/l) for creating polypyrrole/polyester textile composite with electromagnetic shielding ability higher than 12 dB were successfully verified.