Heterogeneous interface engineering of bionic corn-structured ternary nanocomposites for excellent low-frequency microwave absorption

Abstract

Achieving strong low-frequency microwave absorption is an important research direction, and heterogeneous interface engineering is emerging as a promising strategy. In this work, drawing inspiration from corn, bionic corn-structured ternary nanocomposites were designed and prepared. The obtained Co2NiO4/Fe2O3/Fe3O4 ternary nanocomposites mimic corn kernel structures, and create abundant heterogeneous interfaces, large specific surface area (SSA), and pores. These features effectively enhance interface polarization, optimize impedance matching, and also induce low-frequency natural resonance and high-frequency eddy current loss. The internal defects in the material can promote dipole polarization. The heterogeneous interface engineering of the corn-structured ternary nanocomposites enhances the synergistic effect of dielectric and magnetic loss in the low-frequency region. This optimization achieves an excellent microwave absorption capability of −55.16 dB at a low frequency of 4.40 GHz. Furthermore, radar cross section (RCS) simulations also verified its immense potential for practical applications. This work fabricates an original bionic nanostructure and proposes a performance optimization strategy that will provide useful guidance for the design and fabrication of low-frequency microwave absorbers.