Rational design of three-dimensional boron and nitrogen co-doped carbon nanotubes encapsulated with nickel nanoparticles composite for enhance electromagnetic wave absorbing

Abstract

Three-dimensional boron, nitrogen co-doped carbon nanotubes encapsulated with nickel nanoparticles (3D Ni@BNCNTs) composite have been prepared by a simple pyrolysis process using flower-like Ni2B alloy nanosheets (Ni2B NS) as catalyst. This technique enables one-step regulation of the growth diameter and structure of CNTs as well as in situ doping of B atoms. The doping of B and N atoms generates dipolar polarization and increases the dielectric loss. The prepared 3D Ni@BNCNTs samples exhibit excellent electromagnetic wave absorption capacity due to the abundant interface polarization, rich defective polarization, good conduction loss and good magnetic loss synergistically. 3D Ni@BNCNTs has a minimum reflection loss of −63.7 dB with a matching thickness of 1.7 mm and a broad effective absorption bandwidth which can reach 4.56 GHz at 1.5 mm with the merely filler loading ratio of 20 wt%. Therefore, this work developed a promising electromagnetic wave absorber for ultra-lightweight, ultra-thin and high-efficiency.