Fabrication of new conductive surface-metallized UHMWPE fabric with improved thermal resistance

A new UHMWPE-based conductive fabric was successfully prepared by radiation-induced graft polymerization and subsequent post-modification, followed by electroless deposition. The chemical structure and composition of modified UHMWPE fabrics were investigated in detail by ATR-FTIR, ²⁹Si NMR, and XPS to confirm grafting and post-modification. After electroless deposition, the morphology, thermal stability, and crystal structure of original and modified fabrics were characterized by SEM, TG, DSC and XRD. Cu-deposited UHMWPE fabric exhibited much better thermal resistance than that of UHMWPE and Cu@UHMWPE-g-PAAc. In order to improve the oxidation resistance of copper-deposited fabric, nickel was processed on copper-coated UHMWPE fabric to protect the copper layer. An electromagnetic shielding effect test showed the nickel-copper coated UHMWPE fabric could shield 94.5% of the electromagnetic wave in the frequency range of 8-12 GHz. This work provides an approach for addressing the issue of poor thermal resistance of metal-coated polymeric materials due to the inherent low melting point of the organic support.