Hierarchical manganese sillenite Bi12MnO20 microparticles assembled by nanocubes with microwave absorption enhancement

Abstract

Pure manganese sillenite (Bi12MnO20) microparticles with average sizes of 11.5–16.8 μm were prepared via an oxidation-precipitation method assisted by microwave-heating. Their microstructures are characterized by the shapes of single or multiple intersecting tetrahedrons and the massive nanocubes in ordered arrays on each tetrahedron surface. Such hierarchical Bi12MnO20 microparticles have not been reported so far, while their growth mechanisms may include the formation of active centers, the selective nucleation on active center surfaces and the growth of nanocubes along certain orientations. In electromagnetic determination, noticeable resonances both in permittivity and permeability were revealed beyond relaxations. A cone-like reflection loss peak was obtained with the minimum value of −39.1 dB and a broad effective microwave absorption bandwidth covering 12.7–14.6 GHz. Moreover, the reflection loss peak stagnates at the same frequency regardless of the absorbent thickness variations, suggesting a high performance in microwave attenuation.