Process for producing an electromagnetic radiation-shielding, metallized polyester fiber textile material

Claim 1

A process for metallizing a textile material having a high surface or sheet resistivity of 10 -2 to 10 ohms and containing polyester fibers to produce a material to shield electronic devices from electromagnetic radiation interference, comprising the steps of: pre-treating a textile material containing at least 15% by weight of polyester fibers with an aqueous solution of a caustic alkali to an extent that the weight of the polyester fibers is decreased by at least 10% based on the original weight of the polyester fibers for activating the surface of the polyester fibers to increase the amount of a metal coating which can be plated onto the polyester fibers for enhancing the bonding strength of the polyester fiber surfaces to the metal coating; activation-treating the pre-treated textile material with a tin (II)-containing compound and with a palladium-containing compound; non-electrolytically plating the activation-treated textile material in a plating liquid containing a compound of an electroconductive metal to be plated, an alkali and/or ammonia, and hydrazine as a reducing agent to form a plated metal coating thereon, said hydrazine being used as a reducing agent in the non-electrolytical plating liquid, the resultant metal coating having a high purity and an enhanced crystallinity of the metal crystals such that the resultant metallized textile material exhibits an enhanced electroconductivity; and said electroconductive metal being selected from the group consisting of nickel, cobalt, chromium, and alloys of at least two of the above-mentioned metals, said pretreating step being effective for activating the surface of the polyester fibers for promoting the formation of the plated metal coating.