Microstructure and enhanced electromagnetic wave absorbing performance of Zn0.6Ni0.3Cu0.1Fe2O4 ferrite glass-ceramic

Abstract

Here we introduce a controllable route for the efficient synthesis of Zn0.6Ni0.3Cu0.1Fe2O4 ferrite glass-ceramic with enhanced electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbing performance. By adding a certain amount of Zn, Ni, Cu and Fe oxides into the SiO2–Al2O3–B2O3–CaO-R2O glass system, the microstructure of three-dimensional dendritic ferrites combined with amorphous SiO2-rich phase is constructed through a high-temperature melt and quenching route. The good EMW absorption performance is attributed to the unique combination of amorphous glass and spinel ferrite, which improves the impedance matching of the material and absorbs EMW by the dielectric loss and magnetic loss. Moreover, the dendritic ferrite crystal phase is compounded with the SiO2-rich amorphous phase to form grain boundaries and crystal-amorphous interfaces, which enhances the interfacial polarization and builds multiple transmission-absorption mechanisms. The results show that the reflection loss peak value of the glass-ceramics containing 60 wt% Zn0.6Ni0.3Cu0.1Fe2O4 spinel is −42.16 dB with the sample thickness of 2 mm, and the effective absorption band range (reflection loss ≤ -10 dB) is 3.76 GHz (13.6–17.36 GHz) at 1.5 mm. This approach presents a scalable and low-cost solution that may be applied to the design of high-efficiency EMW consumption components in the future.