Abstract:

The aim of the research was to investigate the influence of silver coated yarns incorporated into fabric on the electrical and shielding properties of textile materials designed to ensure protection against the risk of harmful electromagnetic fields as well as thermophysiological comfort in a warm climate. The wearing comfort of conductive textiles is poor due to the chemical nature of synthetic fibres and coatings usually used in their production. In order to solve the problem, natural flax fibres that have good antistatic, hygienic and wearing comfort properties were used as a base for electroconductive textiles. This paper presents the research of these newly developed conductive textile materials. The content of the experimental investigations consisted of determination of the electrical conductivity, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding of the materials designed, and an analysis of measurement results. From the results obtained, it can be concluded that not only the amount of conductive additive (in this case –silver) but also the distribution of conductive yarns in woven flax fabric influence the electrical properties, such as electromagnetic wave shielding and electrical conductivity. Correlations between the shielding effectiveness and electrostatic properties are also discussed.