Construction Strategy for Flexible and Breathable SiO2/Al/NFs/PET Composite Fabrics

with Dual Shieldingagainst Microwave and Infrared–Thermal Radiations for

Wearable Protective Clothing

Abstract: Microwave and infrared–thermalradiation-compatible   shielding   fabrics   represent an im- portant   direction   in   thedevelopment   of   wearable   protective   fabrics. Nevertheless, effectively andcon-veniently   integrating   compatible   shielding functions into fabrics whilemaintaining breathability and moisture permeability remains a significant challenge. Here, we takehydrophilic PVA-co-PE nanofi-brousfilm-coated   PETfabric   (NFs/PET)   as a flexiblesubstrate and deposit   a dielectric/conductive (SiO2/Al) bilayer film via magnetron sputtering. Thisstrategy endows the fabric surface with high electrical conductivity, nanoscaleroughness comparable to visible and infrared waves, and a dielectric–metalcontact   interfacepossessing localized plasmon resonance and Mie scatteringeffects. The results demonstrate that the optimized SiO2/Al/NFs/PET compositeconductive fabric (referred to as S4-1) possesses favorable X-bandelectromagnetic interference   (EMI) shielding effectiveness (50 dB) as well asexcellent long-wave infrared (LWIR) shielding or IR stealth performance   (IRemis-sivity of 0.60). Notably, the S4-1 fabric   has a cooling effect of about12.4 ◦C   for a heat source (80 ◦C) and an   insulating   effect of about 17.2 ◦C for a cold source (−20 ◦C), showing excellent shielding capability   for heat conduction   andheat radiations. Moreover, the moisture permeability of the S4-1 fabric isabout 300 g/(m2·h), which is   better than the   requirement concerning moisturepermeability for wearable fabrics (≥2500–5000 g/(m2·24 h)), indicatingexcellent   heat   and moisture comfort. In short, our fabrics have lightweight,thin, moisture-permeable and   excellent shielding   performance,   which providesnovel ideas for the development of wearable multi-band shielding fabricsapplied to   complex   electromagnetic environments.

Ye H, Liu Q, Xu X, Song M, Lu Y, Yang L, Wang W, Wang Y, Li M, Wang D. Construction Strategy for Flexible and Breathable SiO2/Al/NFs/PET Composite Fabrics with Dual Shielding against Microwave and Infrared–Thermal   Radiations for   Wearable Protective   Clothing.   Polymers. 2024; 16(1):6. https://doi.org/10.3390/ polym 16010006