Halloysite nanotube-based nest-like composite microspheres with enhanced microwave absorption ability

Abstract

Exploration of 3D nest-like materials has been demonstrated to be an effective strategy to afford high-performance microwave absorption ability. In this work, a facile approach was developed to construct nest-like microspheres via a microgel-assisted method, in which the natural product halloysite nanotube (HNT) was employed as the starting material. The nest-like micromorphology was demonstrated, and the particle size can be well controlled. The obtained HNTs-based nest-like microsphere-anchored Ag nanoparticles exhibit desirable microwave absorption ability. The optimal reflection loss is −23.34 dB at 7.03 GHz with a thickness of 3.5 mm and an effective absorption bandwidth of 2.54 GHz (5.89–8.43 GHz). The result provided a facile approach to construct 3D nest-like microspheres starting from 1D nanomaterials, and other potential applications should be desirable.