An ultralight, eco-friendly 3D porous carbon aerogel derived from cotton nano-cellulose for infrared stealth and microwave absorption

Abstract

As multi-band military detection technology advances in the field of information warfare, stealth materials that are only applied for single frequency bands have extremely poor effectiveness in avoiding detection interference. Thus, it is urgent to develop stealth materials with compatible performance in multiple bands, especially infrared-radar compatible stealth materials. However, integrating infrared-radar compatiblity into one particular material remains a significant challenge. Inspired by the methods of structure design and component selection, this research provided a cotton nano-cellulose-based carbon aerogel with three-dimensional (3D) macro-mesoporous interface space for high-performance infrared-radar compatibility. When the density is only 0.005 ± 0.002 g cm−3, the infrared emissivity exhibits as low as 0.56 in 3–5 μm band and 0.52 in 8–14 μm band, the minimum reflection loss (RLmin) attains −19.8 dB, and the maximum effective microwave absorption bandwidth (EAB) covers 4.64 GHz. Additionally, computer simulation technology (CST) can be used to simulate the optimum radar cross section (RCS) reduction value of 15.86 dB m2, indicating that the aerogel has great potential in reducing the probability of being detected by radar detectors. Therefore, the lightweight porous carbon aerogels not only employ renewable and eco-friendly biomass materials, but also show great significance for high-performance infrared-radar compatibility, which is in favor of protecting human security all over the world.