Regulatory expectations for materials intended for food contact, medical applications, and potable water systems are becoming increasingly stringent and dynamic. 
EMI shielding by thermoplastics is often aimed to be accomplished through compound development. However, when electromagnetic performance is critical, that strategy quickly reaches its limits as shown by linking experimental results to simple model calculations of shielding effectiveness from the conductivity and  thickness of the shielding layer.  
 
The experiments also show convincingly that thin, highly conductive layers such as metallized coatings, continuous carbon fiber layers, and metal grids outperform conventional thermoplastic compounds by a wide margin, especially when dealing with low frequency magnetic fields (near field shielding). 
 
Finally, the presentation addresses durable metal to plastic adhesion. Using Polyamide 6, 46 and PPS as examples, we show how electroplated metal layers can be robustly integrated into thermoplastic components.