Transition metal carbides towards electromagnetic wave absorption application: State of the art and perspectives

Abstract

In current complex electromagnetic environment, the development of multi-functional materials with high-temperature resistance is crucial for the next-generation of electromagnetic wave absorbing (EWA) materials. Transition-metal carbides (TMCs) such as molybdenum carbide, tungsten carbide, titanium carbide, niobium carbide, vanadium carbide, zirconium carbide, tantalum carbide, and hafnium carbide exhibit good high-temperature resistance and chemical stability, making them the most potential non-oxide high temperature structural EWA materials. With the rapid development of nanotechnology, various effective strategies, including component regulation, morphology design, interface engineering, and phase engineering etc., have been successfully applied to regulate the EWA performances of TMCs. Moreover, the emergence of new two-dimension carbides (MXene) has once sparked a resurgence of research on TMCs as EWA materials. While numerous TMCs and TMCs-based composites demonstrating EWA properties have been reported, a systematic review to summarize these materials is currently lacking. This Review summarizes recent progress aimed at understanding the structure, EWA performance and correlated mechanisms of TMCs. The current challenges and prospects for future opportunities of TMCs as EWA materials are also discussed. It is hoped that this review could provide new insights to design and fabricate TMCs-based EWA materials with better fundamental understanding and practical application.