Three-dimensional (3D) reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/zinc oxide (ZnO)/barium ferrite nanocomposites for electromagnetic absorption

Abstract

A three-dimensional (3D) nanocomposite of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and zinc oxide (ZnO) was synthesized by a mild solution-process and a freeze-dried process effectively to keep the whole system fluffy. The BaFe12O19 nanocrystals were synthesized by nitrate citric acid sol–gel auto-ignition method. The electromagnetic and microwave absorption properties of 3D-RGO-ZnO/BaFe12O19 nanocomposites were investigated and this new type 3D material exhibited an efficient reflection loss value and a wide absorption bandwidth. The minimum reflection loss arrives −43.45 dB at 11.52 GHz for 7 wt% of 3D-RGO-ZnO in the nanocomposite with a thickness of 2.0 mm, and the effective absorption bandwidth is larger than 5.8 GHz (the reflection loss below −10 dB). Therefore, the 3D-RGO-ZnO/BaFe12O19 nanocomposites can be considered as an excellent material candidate for microwave absorbers.