New Type of Textiles with Shielding Properties

Abstract

To render impossible the penetration of interference (disturbing) energy of electromagnetic radiation to sensitive electronic devices, or to protect people against its effects, there is a need of shielding in many areas. The importance of this problem has resulted in a growing number of research works on the optimisation of shielding techniques. Shields made of metal are expensive, heavy, not always convenient or sometimes even entirely unsuitable for application. Investigations into new shielding materials are being carried out, e.g. specially loaded plastics, multilayer films or textile fabrics. Flexible materials shielding against electromagnetic fields (textile fabrics) are more frequently applied in practice, e.g. to cover the walls of rooms or to cover devices in order to decrease emission or to increase resistance to other (foreign) emissions. The Textile Research Institute in Łodź (Poland) has developed and produced samples of new flexible textile fabrics which shield high-frequency electromagnetic energy. This work presents these new materials, their properties and also a simple method for testing shielding effectiveness.