Amorphous/Graphitic carbon phase engineering of Corrosion-Resistant Fe@C Core-Shell nanowires for optimized dipole polarization and enhanced microwave absorption

Abstract

The study of designing and developing ferromagnetic nanocomposites with both microwave absorption (MA) and corrosion protection properties through microscopic heterogeneous interfacial engineering and crystal phase engineering remains challenging. In this study, Fe@C core–shell nanowires (FCNWs) are obtained by magnetic field-controlled in situ reduction method and annealing process to de-regulate the carbon shell thickness and carbon morphology. The enhancement of Fe-C heterogeneous relative interfacial effects and dielectric/magnetic response is revealed using density functional theory and simulated electromagnetic field distribution, and the modulation of the amorphous carbon/graphitic carbon ratio achieves the enhancement of dipole polarization in the low-frequency region. The FCNWs absorber had a minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of −47.6 dB at a thickness of 4.9 mm, and the maximum effective absorption bandwidth (EABmax) was achieved at 5.5 mm up to 4.0 GHz. In addition, the shielding effect of the graphitic carbon shell on the corrosion medium and the addition of additional electron conduction pathways allow the FCNWs absorber to obtain smaller corrosion currents and larger polarization resistances compared to Fe nanowires. Thus, modulation of atomic-scale heterogeneous interfaces and crystal phases has great potential in modulating the dielectric response.