Nickel deposition on Kevlar fabric modified with aminopropyltrimethoxysilane in supercritical fluid via electroless plating

Kevlar fabric was pretreated with aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) through supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) process before electroless nickel plating. APTMS pretreated Kevlar fibers were characterized by element distribution and contact angle. Deposition rate, deposit weight, surface morphology, crystal structure, surface resistance, electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness (SE) and magnetic properties of electroless nickel plated Kevlar fabric were investigated. The results show that APTMS is evenly covered on Kevlar fibers after pretreatment. Nickel coatings on the Kevlar fibers are dense and uniform after nickel plating. Surface resistance and electromagnetic interference SE of the nickel plated Kevlar fabric via scCO2 processes arrives at 1.33 Ω/sq and 13–19 dB at frequencies ranging from 2 to 18 GHz. The saturation magnetization of Ni coated Kevlar fabric reaches 207.52 memu/g.