Electroless silver plating on the PET fabrics modified with 3‐mercaptopropyltriethoxysilane

The feasibility of adherent silver layers onto PET fabrics by electroless plating was explored and its optimal technology for modification and electroless plating was investigated. Morphology, structure, and thermal stability of silver plating PET fabrics were characterized by scanning electric microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravitric (TG) analysis. As the silver weight on the modified fabric is 25 g/m2, the electromagnetic shielding effectiveness (SE) of silver plating PET fabric is more than 30dB at the frequency ranging from 1MHz to 5000 MHz. The results show that the silver plating PET fabric has good electrical conductivity and electromagnetic shielding property. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012