3D-Enhanced, High-Performing, Super-hydrophobic and Electromagnetic-Interference Shielding Fabrics Based on Silver Paint and Their Use in Antibacterial Applications

A unique brush coating technique was adopted to prepare high microwave absorbing super-hydrophobic bactericidal fabrics. 3D micro-CT, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) analyses were employed to establish the composite morphology. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to characterize the embedded silver nanoparticles in the cotton fabrics. The developed thin wearable coated fabrics hold the lowest resistivity of 8 ohm-cm⁻² (lighten up series of LEDs) and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding effectiveness (SE) of 30.07 dB at 0.3 mm coating thickness within the X-band frequency range. These thin coated fabrics can be the used in the flexible electronic devices along with extreme bactericidal feature against E. coli.