D

J. Chem. Chem. Eng. 6 (2012) 199-208

DAVID PUBLISHING

EMI Shielding Effectiveness of Polypyrrole Coated

Glass Fabric
Abdul Malik Rehan Abbasi1,2*, Vijay. Baheti1 and Jiri. Militky1
1. Faculty of Textile Engineering, Technical University of Liberec, Liberec, 46117, Czech Republic
2. Department of Textile Engineering, BUITEMS, Quetta, 87300, Pakistan
Received: December 30, 2012 / Accepted: January 23, 2013 / Published: March 25, 2013.
Abstract: Polypyrrole was coated on E-glass fiberre fabric by vapor deposition technique using FeCl 3 as oxidizing agent and OTsO(oxidizing agent and tosylate) as dopant. The very low resistive (below 500 ohm/. sq) samples were specially prepared by multiple
dips. EMI shielding effectiveness was measured at 800 MHz 1.8 GHz and 2.4 GHz, which varies according to frequency and found
to be increased with increase in electrical conductivity of the samples. IL (Insertion loss) of highly conductive glass fabric sample
was calculated and shows that 99.23% of the EM incident radiations can be blocked with the help of this technique.
Key words: Electromagnetic interference shielding, polypyrrole, fibre glass fabric

1. Introduction
Electrically conductive polymers have fascinated a
great deal of attention because of the variability of
their electrical properties and the sensitivity of these
properties to external effects such as radiation,
chemicals and temperature. Conducting polymers
have the exceptional property of wide ranging
modulation of their electrical conductivity. They can
be synthesized with any conductivity value, from
insulating to highly conductive, by combining specific
concentrations of doping agent counter-ions during
polymerization. However, embedding of conductive
polymers into useful articles has proved problematic
due to their non-processability and poor mechanical
properties. These disadvantages can be overcome by
coating textile substrates with conductive polymers.
Thus the desirable electrical properties of these
materials can be combined with the strength and
flexibility of the textile substrates to produce
electrically conductive fabrics that can be used in a
wide range of applications. There have been a few
publications on conductive polypyrrole coated fabrics [143].
Electromagnetic radiations are emitted by a range
of electrical and electronic appliances which are an
essential part of our lives: at work place. The emitted
electromagnetic radiations may interfere with other
appliances and also affect peoples health and quality
of life and the environment. Plentiful medical studies
describe the risk to people from continuous exposure,
*

Corresponding author: Abdul Malik Rehan Abbasi,

field: textile science. E-mail: rehan.abbasi@tul.cz.

M.Sc., research

for example the tendency of increased cell division

speeds as well as affects to the immune system [54].
Based on the above stated risk of health, the
question is often raised, whether protection against
electromagnetic radiations is possible by suitable
clothing? Compared to metalized fabrics, the
absorption component of a conducting polymer fabric
represents a higher contribution to the overall
shielding; metal-coated fabrics shield predominantly
by reflection.
An important, useful property of any conductive
fabric is its ability to shield against electromagnetic
radiation. In this paper, the authors discuss the
properties of conducting polymers, PPy
(predominantly polypyrrole), deposited onto the
surfaces of textile substrates related to EMSE and IL.
By coating thin layers of conducting polymers onto
substrates, such as fabrics, one overcomes many of the
processing problems associated with pure conducting
polymers.

2. Materials and Methods

Pyrrole monomer was obtained from Merck and
Iron (III) chloride of analytical grade from BDH
chemicals was used Tosylate tosylate
[(C2H5)4N(CH3C6H4SO3)] was obtained from aldrich
chemicals. All the chemicals were used as received.
2.1 Experimental Setup
PPy was coated on E-glass fabric 3/1 twill having
54 30 warp and filling per inch, by vapor deposition
of pyrrole monomer in the presence of tetraethyl

EMI Shielding Effectiveness of Polypyrrole Coated Glass Fabric

ammonium p-toluene sulfonate shortly called as OTsO(tosylate) as doping agent with FeCl3 as an oxidizing
agent in the ratio 1:2 respectively.
2.2 Measurement Techniques
The surface morphology of glass fibre before and
after PPy coating was characterized by SEM (scanning
electron microscope). Surface electrical resistivity Rs
and volume Rv electrical resistivity in [kohms/sq] of
PPy coated fabric samples wasere measured by HP
high resistance meter whereas EMSE [dB] was
characterized with the help of Agilent EMI receiver

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

and a TEM cell specially customized for conductive

textile substrates.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1 Surface Characterization
A TESCAN VEGA SEM placed in the Technical
University of Liberec, Czech Republic, was employed
for surface morphological studies.
Second coating of PPy was carried out by repeating
the same vapor deposition technique on the glass fabric
which was already been coated, this method deposits two
layers of PPy on the fibre as illustrated in Fig. 1d.

Fig. 1 SEM micrographs of E-glass fibres after PPy coating, in (a) to (c) concentration of doping agent was increased from 0.05 M
to 0.1 M and (d) shows two coatings of PPy at low concentration of tosylate, PPy partially covers the fibre in the form of the
particle of micron size shown in Fig. 1a, whereas concentration above deposits patches of PPy on fibre. Further increase in
concentration covers whole fibre completely as shown in Figs. 1b and 1c.

3.1 EMI SE and Electrical Resistivity Analysis

The effect of the composite electrical resistivity on
the EMI SE was analyzed. For a single layer of
substrate, the theoretical EMI SE can be written as:
EMSE = 10log Pi/Pt [decibels dB] (1)
where, Pt = transmitted power, Pi = incident power.
If the receiver readout in the units of voltage,
following equation is used:
EMSE = 20log V1/V2 [decibels dB]
(2)
V1 and V2 are the respective voltage levels without and
with the substrate present in the cell.
Fig. 2a describes the relationship between electrical
resistivity of the PPy coated glass fabric samples and
EMI shielding effectiveness measured at 2.4 GHz and

shows that by increasing concentration of the doping

agent more PPy particles cover the fibres and hence
decrease the resistivity of the sample. Samples with low
resistivity or high conductivity show high shielding
effectiveness compared to those samples with high
resistivity.
Similar effect can be seen in the Fig. 2b which
illustrates IL (the insertion loss) in percentage which
reaches to the value of 99.23% for the sample having
electrical resistivity of 460 ohm/sq.
Same sample as mentioned above were tested at three
different frequencies 800 MHz, 1.8 GHz and 2.4 GHz
and comparison of EMSE has been plotted in Fig. 3a.
Although difference in the measurement results are not
so high but it is worth noticing that EMSE of the sample

EMI Shielding Effectiveness of Polypyrrole Coated Glass Fabric

increases slightly at high frequency. Fig. 3b

demonstrates the insertion loss at these three
frequencies. Here also one can see that sample with
highest conductivity blocks above 98% of
electromagnetic radiations at medium frequency levels.

4. Conclusions
The conductive fabric produced from polypyrrole
coating provides 98.67%-99.23% loss in power at the
medium frequency range of 800-2,400 MHz. Hence,

these fabrics can be used to shield the house hold

appliances; FM/AM radio broadcast sets, wireless
phones, cellular phones, computers, buildings, secret
rooms and various electronic gadgets that operate up to
2.4 GHz frequency.
Vapor deposition technique is the best suitable
method for the coating of textile substrates to make
them electrically conductive. Polypyrrole coated textile
materials can be used as:
EMI shielded cloth for concerned persons;

25.00

120.0099.23
100.00

20.00

80.00

15.00
EMSE [dB]

60.00

10.00

Loss in pow er [%]

40.00
20.00

5.00

0.00

0.00

-20.00

-5.00
1.0E-04

1.0E+00
1.0E+00

1.0E+04

Log electrical resistivity [k.ohm/sq]

(a)

1.0E-04

1.0E+04

Log electrical resistivity [k.ohm/sq]

(b)

Fig. 2 (a) EMSE of PPy coated glass fabric as a function of electrical resistivity of different samples at 2.4 GHz (b) Change in IL
at 2.4 GHz regarding to electrical resistivity.

EMI Shielding Effectiveness of Polypyrrole Coated Glass Fabric

(a)

(b)

Fig. 3 (a) EMSE of PPy coated sample having resistivity of 460 Ohm/. sq at different frequencies (b) Dependence of insertion loss
of sample as a function of frequency.

RADAR barrier shield for military purposes and

devices;
Other use could be heat generating fabric as well.

[2]

Acknowledgments

[3]

The authors are grateful to all technical persons who

helped to accomplish this research and this study was
financially supported by SGS (student grant scheme)
2012 at the Technical University of Liberec, Czech
Republic under internal contract No. 4859.

References
[1]

Appel, G.; Yfantis, A.; Goepel, W.; Schmeisser, D. Highly

Conductive Polypyrrole Films on Non-Conductive

[4]

[5]

Substrates. Synthetic Metals 1996, 83, 197-200.

Kuhn, H.; Child, A.; Kimbrell, W. toward Real Applications
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Surface and adhesion properties of Polypyrrole-Coated
Textiles. Text. Res. J. 1993, 63, 247-256.
Abbasi, A. M. R.; Mangat, M. M.; Baheti, V.; Miltky, J.
Thermal properties of cotton fabric coated with polypyrrole.
J. Fiber Bioengineering and Informatics 2012, 5, 163-168.
Avloni, J.; Florio, L.; Henn, A. R.; Lau, R.; Ouyang, M.;
Sparavigna, A. Electromagnetic Shielding with PolypyrroleCoated Fabrics, Presented at the EMC Europe Conference,
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