Conductive textile structures and their contribution to electromagnetic shielding effectiveness

Fabrics for electromagnetic shielding are especially relevant in nowadays context, contributing to human’s protection and wellbeing and to proper functioning of electronic equipment, in relation to electromagnetic compatibility. Fabrics with electromagnetic shielding properties employ two main technologies, namely insertion of conductive yarns and application of conductive coatings. Magnetron sputtering is a modern technology to enable conductive coatings with thickness in the range of nanometers onto fabrics. This paper aims to analyze contribution of various conductive textile structures out of both fabrics with inserted conductive yarns and coatings to Electromagnetic shielding effectiveness (EMSE). EMSE was measured in the frequency range of 0.1–1000 MHz by using a TEM cell according to standard ASTM ES-07. Results show a gain of 10–25 dB when introducing silver yarns in warp/ weft direction, a variation of 5–35 dB between conductive yarns out of silver and stainless steel and an up to 12 dB gain out of thin copper coating by magnetron plasma onto the fabrics with inserted conductive yarns