Constructing and optimizing epoxy resin-based carbon Nanotube/Barium ferrite microwave absorbing coating system

Abstract

High-performance microwave absorbing coatings are highly indispensable for protecting human health and enhancing military strength. A single- and double-layer wave-absorbing coating system that employs complex microwave absorbers composed of the helical carbon nanotubes/doped barium ferrite composite with epoxy resin as the matrix was developed. The concentration and thickness of the coating were optimized by the numerical simulation and the adaptive genetic algorithm. The developed helical carbon nanotubes/doped barium ferrite wave-absorbing composites have a porous reticular structure, with abundant microscopic cavities and an adequately conductive network. The coatings are characterized by a flat surface, good uniformity, and high density. The reflectivity measured by the arch method is similar to that obtained through the finite element simulation, where the absorption bands of all the developed coatings are distributed in the range of 10–18 GHz. The optimized wave-absorbing coating exhibits the most uniform scattering pattern, the largest radar cross section (RCS) reduction, the smallest input reflection coefficient, and the highest absorptivity. Thus, it exhibits the best comprehensive microwave-absorption performance with a minimum reflection loss of −17.22 dB at 16.66 GHz. In particular, the absorption bandwidth of the coating can reach 9.16 GHz, which is attributable to its multiple synergistic electromagnetic attenuation mechanisms and its excellent characteristics of interference-cancellation and impedance-matching characteristics. Generally, helical carbon nanotubes/doped barium ferrite wave-absorbing coatings are promising candidates for applications in Ku-band microwave absorption.