Engineering and Optimization of Breathable Stainless-Steel/Polyester Hybrid Fabrics for Flexible Electromagnetic Shielding Wearables

Abstract The increasing prevalence of radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation has thrust functional textiles into the spotlight for maternal and fetal protection, yet balancing electronic attenuation with wearable comfort remains a critical challenge. While conventional literature favors plain and twill weaves for shielding due to their compact construction, this study challenges those prevailing assumptions. We present an architecture-driven framework utilizing stainless-steel and polyester (SS-PES) hybrid woven yarns to demonstrate that sateen geometries systematically outperform plain and twill counterparts across the 30−1500 MHz spectrum. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and electrical resistance measurements reveal that sateen’s extended float lengths and reduced interlacement minimize contact resistance, establishing continuous, low-impedance conductive pathways. This architecture drives a peak shielding effectiveness of 36.00 dB at 900 MHz and maintains >30 dB attenuation across the critical 600−1500 MHz telecommunication band. Guided by a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) evaluation, the optimized sateen configuration (S25) decouples shielding performance from mechanical stiffness, achieving high air permeability (850 L m−2 h−1) and low bending modulus (4.20 kg cm−2). Producible at less than USD 5 m−2 and demonstrated within a three-layer wearable maternity belt prototype, this work offers a scalable, economically viable methodology for engineering next-generation protective maternity garments.