Wearable metamaterial for electromagnetic radiation shielding
Oriol Almirall, Raúl Fernández‐García, Ignacio Gil
Abstract
A novel wearable Frequency Selective Surface (FSS) created using fabric materials capable of blocking electromagnetic radiation around the frequency of 10.64 GHz (X Microwave frequency band) is presented in this paper. Two different unit cell shapes are tested: embroidered metal yarn squares and hexagons. A cotton fabric with permittivity 1.9 and thickness 0.4 mm is used as a substrate. The proposed design is validated by comparison of 3 D electromagnetic simulations and measurements. The obtained results correspond to a maximum absorptivity of 99.23% at 10.63 GHz for the simulation using a square as unit cell, whereas the simulations using hexagons led to a maximum in absorptivity of 99.94% at 10.68 GHz. Experimental results, at their turn, showed maximums of 98.39% for the squares and 98.00% for the hexagons, both at 10.46 GHz. So, results showed that the textile was actually offering a high degree of electromagnetic shielding, increasing the safety for civil and occupational exposures to electromagnetic radiation. In this case, this protection is offered at the microwave frequencies, used especially for telecommunications Earth-satellite which is in the range considered as a potential risk by the WHO (World Health Organization).