Flexible, superhydrophobic, and self-cleaning rGO/LDH/PPy-modified fabric for full X-band electromagnetic wave absorption

Abstract

High-performance flexible microwave absorbing textiles are the subject of a research boom due to the growing need for flexible wearable electronic gadgets that can withstand electromagnetic wave pollution and operate in challenging situations. Herein, we combine the two techniques of thermal reduction and in-situ growth to produce a reduced graphene oxide/FeCo-layered double hydroxide/polypyrrole (rGO/LDH/PPy) coated fabric with good superhydrophobic qualities and high electromagnetic wave absorption (EWA) performance. rGO/LDH and PPy work together to generate a multidimensional heterostructure, which offers the coated fabric a high electromagnetic loss capacity. The coating design uses a fluffy and complicated aramid fabric as the skeleton. The impedance gradient may be created to modify the fabric's ability to absorb electromagnetic waves by varying the concentration of Py. Full coverage of the X-band can be achieved by the coated fabric, which has an RLmin of −45.0 dB and a thickness of 3.5 mm. The layered rough structure generated by PPy, FeCo-LDH, and rGO in conjunction with the low surface energy material SN-67 results in an exceptional superhydrophobic property with a WCA of 156.9° for the coated fabric. Furthermore, this rGO/LDH/PPy coated fabric is robust and does not lose its superhydrophobicity even after repeated tape stripping, extended chemical exposure, and high and low temperature conditions. This work indicates potential application value for flexible electromagnetic wave-absorbing materials that maintain high efficiency in challenging situations, and it offers a solid foundation for the design of multifunctional EWA materials based on textiles.