Dual Organic-Metallic Conductive Networks Coating Cotton Textiles for Efficient and Durable Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Materials with Enhanced Thermal Stability

With the rapid integration of electronic devices into wearable systems, there is an increasing demand for lightweight and flexible textiles capable of providing reliable electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding together with mechanical durability and flame-resistant behavior. In this work, a multifunctional cotton fabric was fabricated via a simple dip-coating strategy using a hybrid combination of electrically conductive Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene nanosheets and conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). The sequential coating process constructs a continuous and interconnected conductive network on the cotton fiber surface while retaining the flexibility and textile characteristics of the textile substrate. After 20 dip-coating cycles, the optimized fabric achieves an EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) of 41.29 dB in the X-band (8.2–12.4 GHz), corresponding to over 99.99% attenuation of incident electromagnetic waves. Notably, the EMI shielding performance remained at approximately 40 dB after 1000 bending cycles, 200 peeling cycles, 60 aging cycles, and 3 days of solvent immersion, confirming the excellent mechanical robustness and environmental stability of the conductive architecture. Moreover, the coated fabrics exhibit improved flame-resistant behavior under direct-flame exposure, accompanied by the formation of a compact carbonaceous residue. This study provides a simple and scalable approach for designing flexible, durable, and high-performance EMI shielding textiles for advanced wearable electronic applications.