Broad Effective Absorption Bandwidth Research Articles

Surfactant-induced morphology engineering in chitosan-derived carbon aerogels realizing high-efficiency absorption of electromagnetic wave

Despite the significant research advances in dielectric loss-type absorbents, developing high-efficiency electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbents dominated by the conduction loss are still challenging due to the imbalance between impedance matching and conduction loss. In this study, for the first time, high-efficiency EMW absorption governed by the conduction loss in chitosan-derived carbon aerogels was realized through surfactant-assisted morphology modification. Electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bonding between chitosan and surfactants were ingeniously applied to induce tightly-stacked nanosheets to transform into three-dimensional (3D) interwork structure and loosely-stacked porous nanosheets, respectively, and thus the moderately enhanced conductivity converted the original EMW-transparent carbon to EMW-absorbing carbon. Benefiting from the favorable balance of impedance matching and conduction loss, the carbon aerogels with 3D interwork structure showed a broad effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 7.2 GHz (2.8 mm) and minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of −42.6 dB; and moreover, an ultra-wide EAB of 7.84 GHz at 2.9 mm occurred in the samples with loosen and wrinkled nanosheet structure, both outperforming most of reported carbon-based composite aerogels. This work provides a new insight for the morphology regulation and performance optimization of carbonaceous EMW absorbents.

Integrating Sulfur Doping with a Multi-Heterointerface Fe7S8/NiS@C Composite for Wideband Microwave Absorption.

Heterointerface engineering is presently considered a valuable strategy for enhancing the microwave absorption (MA) properties of materials via compositional modification and structural design. In this study, a sulfur-doped multi-interfacial composite (Fe7S8/NiS@C) coated with NiFe-layered double hydroxides (LDHs) is successfully prepared using a hydrothermal method and post-high-temperature vulcanization. When assembled into twisted surfaces, the NiFe-LDH nanosheets exhibit porous morphologies, improving impedance matching, and microwave scattering. Sulfur doping in composites generates heterointerfaces, numerous sulfur vacancies, and lattice defects, which facilitate the polarization process to enhance MA. Owing to the controllable heterointerface design, the unique porous structure induced multiple heterointerfaces, numerous vacancies, and defects, endowing the Fe7S8/NiS@C composite with an enhanced MA capability. In particular, the minimum reflection loss (RLmin) value reached -58.1dB at 15.8GHz at a thickness of 2.1mm, and a broad effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) value of 7.3GHz is achieved at 2.5mm. Therefore, the Fe7S8/NiS@C composite exhibits remarkable potential as a high-efficiency MA material owing to the synergistic effects of the polarization processes, multiple scatterings, porous structures, and impedance matching.

Biomimetic artificial nacre-like microfiber of Co/C modified cellulose nanofiber/Ti3C2Tx MXene with efficient microwave absorption

Although considerable efforts have been made in the fabrication of MXene-based composites for microwave absorption (MA), there is a great challenge to assemble MXene into regularly arranged microfibers prepared by wet-spinning technique for application in the field of MA due to insufficient interlayer interactions between Ti3C2Tx flakes. Heterogeneous interface design by optimizing material components to construct ingenious microstructure is crucial for efficient microwave absorbers. Herein, artificial nacre-like supramolecular microfibers of Co/C modified cellulose nanofiber/Ti3C2Tx MXene (Co/C/CNF/Ti3C2Tx) with plenty of heterogeneous interfaces were prepared by a simple wet-spinning technology through a self-assembly process induced by hydrogen bonding interactions between CNF and Ti3C2Tx. The artificial nacre-like microfibers with layered structure possess abundant heterogeneous interfaces, which facilitate multiple reflections/scattering of electromagnetic waves (EMW) between these interfaces, and at the same time promote interfacial and dipole polarization. The introduction of magnetic Co/C nanoparticles not only offer additional magnetic loss ability and improved impedance matching, but also enhance conductivity loss and polarization loss. Benefiting from these advantages, Co/C/CNF/Ti3C2Tx (1:1:1) fiber exhibits superior MA performance with a minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of up to −62.32 dB (>99.9999 % energy absorption) and a broad effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 5.86 GHz. The work provides a promising method for the preparation of biomimetic artificial nacre-like MXene-based microfibers with efficient MA performance, which is expected to be applied in the field of flexible wearable electromagnetic protection.

Ultralight Three-Layer Gradient-Structured MXene/ Reduced Graphene Oxide Composite Aerogels with Broadband Microwave Absorption and Dynamic Infrared Camouflage.

Infrared and radar detectors posed substantial challenges to weapon equipment and personnel due to their continuous surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. Traditional single-band stealth devices are insufficient for dual-band detection in both infrared and microwave bands. To overcome this limitation, a gradient-structured MXene/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composite aerogel (GMXrGA) is fabricated through a two-step bidirectional freeze casting process, followed by freeze-drying and thermal annealing. GMXrGAexhibits a distinct three-layered structure, with each layer playing a crucial role in microwave absorption. This deliberate design amplifies both the efficiency of microwave absorption and the material's effectiveness in dynamic infrared camouflage. GMXrGA displays an ultralow density of 5.2 mg∙cm-3 and demonstrates exceptional resistance to compression, enduring 200 cycles at a maximum strain of 80%. Moreover, it shows superior microwave absorption performance, with a minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of -60.1dB at a broad effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 14.1GHz (3.9-18.0GHz). Additionally, the aerogel exhibits low thermal conductivity (≈26 mW∙m-1∙K-1) and displays dynamic infrared camouflage capabilities within the temperature range of 50-120°C, achieving rapid concealment within 30 s. Consequently, they hold great potential for diverse applications, including intelligent buildings, wearable electronics, and weapon equipment.

Interfacial modulation of SiC/TiC hybrid nanofibers for fabricating flexible ceramic electromagnetic wave absorbers

Titanium Carbide (TiC), characterized by its hardness, conductivity and thermal stability, can serve as a suitable additive phase for SiC nanofibers. TiC phase can improve the flexibility and electromagnetic wave absorption property of SiC nanofibers without sacrificing its high-temperature thermal stability. Herein, flexible SiC/TiC hybrid nanofibers with different Ti contents were fabricated by electrospinning and precursor infiltration pyrolysis. The introduction of Ti can not only generate conductive TiC phase, but also act as a catalyst to regulate the growth of SiC grains, so as to adjust the flexibility and electromagnetic properties of the hybrid nanofibers. At the optimal Ti precursor content of 4 wt%, the SiC/TiC-4 hybrid nanofibers exhibit a broad effective absorption bandwidth of 4.5 GHz with the thickness of 1.6 mm. The flexible SiC/TiC hybrid nanofibers This work can provide a reference for the design of flexible ceramic nanofiber absorbers and is expected to enable practical application in high temperature conditions.

Reversible Switching Between Microwave Absorption and EMI Shielding of VO2 Composite Foam.

Developing lightweight composite with reversible switching between microwave (MW) absorption and electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding is promising yet remains highly challenging due to the completely inconsistent attenuation mechanism for electromagnetic (EM) radiation. Here, a lightweight vanadium dioxide/expanded polymer microsphere composites foam (VO2/EPM) is designed and fabricated with porous structures and 3D VO2 interconnection, which possesses reversible switching function between MW absorption and EMI shielding under thermal stimulation. The VO2/EPM exhibits MW absorption with a broad effective absorption bandwidth of 3.25GHz at room temperature (25 °C), while provides EMI shielding of 23.1dB at moderately high temperature (100 °C). This reversible switching performance relies on the porous structure and tunability of electrical conductivity, complex permittivity, and impedance matching, which are substantially induced by the convertible crystal structure and electronic structure of VO2. Finite element simulation is employed to qualitatively investigate the change in interaction between EM waves and VO2/EPM before and after the phase transition. Moreover, the application of VO2/EPM is demonstrated with a reversible switching function in controlling wireless transmission on/off, showcasing its excellent cycling stability. This kind of smart material with a reversible switching function shows great potential in next-generation electronic devices.

Multifunctional carbon aerogels loaded with pea-pod-like carbon nanotubes for outstanding electromagnetic wave absorption performance

Although ordered porous carbon materials (PCMs) have shown promising potential in the field of electromagnetic wave absorption (EWA), creating multifunctional PCMs with outstanding microwave absorption performance remains a significant challenge. Herein, ordered porous carbon aerogels loaded with pea-pod-like nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were fabricated via orientation freeze-drying followed by high-temperature pyrolysis. The optimized aerogel exhibits extraordinary EWA performance with a broad effective absorption bandwidth of 7.68 GHz and exceptionally strong absorption of −91.58 dB at a low filling ratio of only 3 wt%, which is the largest absorption strength among all known aerogels to date. The exceptional EWA performance is attributed to the synergistic effect of abundant loss mechanisms resulting from a unique pod-like structure in ordered porous carbon aerogel, where nitrogen-doped CNTs encapsulate magnetic alloy nanoparticles. Optimized aerogel exhibits superior compressive elasticity, thermal insulation, and light weight, laying the groundwork for designing practical next-generation EWA materials.

Fe2AlB2@FeAl layered double hydroxides with core-shell heterostructures for electromagnetic wave absorption

The rapid development of high-performance materials has garnered considerable attention in addressing electromagnetic pollution. The construction of core-shell heterostructures is an effective approach for regulating the electromagnetic parameters of absorbers. However, these heterostructures usually lack a direct channel for charge transport between the core phase and the adhesive shell phase. Herein, Fe2AlB2@FeAl-layered double hydroxides with core-shell heterostructures were prepared using a top-down approach. The tightly connected FeAl-LDHs nanosheets to the Fe2AlB2 parent phase improved electronic transport. Compared with raw Fe2AlB2, the spherical absorber with an embroidered structure demonstrated stronger reflection loss (-15.6 dB for Fe2AlB2, −58.6 dB for Fe2AlB2@FeAl-LDHs) and a broader effective absorption bandwidth (2.2 GHz for Fe2AlB2, 3.6 GHz for Fe2AlB2@FeAl-LDHs) due to the enhanced dielectric and magnetic losses. This study presents a practical method for designing new controllable core-shell heterostructures for electromagnetic wave-absorbing materials.

High easy-plane anisotropy Y-Co intermetallic nanoparticles for boosting gigahertz magnetic loss ability

Soft magnetic materials with ferromagnetic loss abilities have been proven effective in solving gigahertz electromagnetic problems. However, it remains a challenge to synergistically improve their loss capacities and working frequencies due to the Snoek limit. Here, we proposed Y-Co nanoparticles with optimized magnetic anisotropy to break this limit and boost microwave absorption properties. As a result, the soft magnetic phases have manipulated the ferromagnetic loss ability, resulting in the improvement of the easy-plane anisotropy, thus increasing the resonance frequency. A loss peak at 6.2 GHz with a loss capacity (μ") of 0.74 can be found in soft magnetic phase-rich nanoparticles with easy-plane anisotropy, which is higher than that of hard magnetic phase-rich with easy-axis anisotropy (0.76, 4.3 GHz) and Co phase (0.4, 3.95 GHz) nanoparticles. The minimum reflection loss of it can reach −26.4 dB (6.85 GHz) with a broad effective absorption bandwidth of 4.35 GHz (5.85 ∼ 10.20 GHz). The present study provides intrinsic insight into the relationship between easy-plane anisotropy and magnetic loss ability, inspiring the design of high-frequency electromagnetic compatibility materials.

Synthesis of Air@Co@Co7Fe3@Fe3O4 composite with enhanced electromagnetic wave absorption performance

Electromagnetic pollution prevention and military stealth technology requirements for wave absorbing materials gradually increased, therefore, the research and development of absorbing materials with the merits of low reflection loss, wide effective absorption bandwidth, and lightweight is of great significance. In this work, Air@Co@Co7Fe3@Fe3O4 hollow spherical particles have been successfully synthesized via a simple chemical plating method combined with a post heat treatment. It reveals that the Air@Co@Co7Fe3@Fe3O4 particles with a loading of 50 wt % exhibits an optimum reflection loss (RL) value of −20.77 dB at 15.52 GHz and broad effective absorption bandwidth (EAB, RL ≤ −10 dB) of 4.56 GHz with a thickness of 1.4 mm. Compared to Air@Co hollow spherical particles, Air@Co@Co7Fe3@Fe3O4 particles with natural resonance and eddy current loss, as well as the interlayer interfacial polarization mechanism of the multilayer structure, exhibit superior electromagnetic wave(EMW) absorption capabilities. The Air@Co@Co7Fe3@Fe3O4 hollow spherical particles could be a new highly efficient absorbing material for electromagnetic waves.

Superior microwave absorption properties of carbon-coated FeSiCr micro flakes

Carbon-coated ferromagnetic alloys can protect from microwave radiation due to their tunable electromagnetic parameters and multiple loss mechanisms. We prepared carbon-coated flaky FeSiCr (FFSC@C) powders by the encapsulation and thermal decomposition of epoxy resin. The crystallization degree and thickness of carbon coating were tuned to optimize the microwave absorption of FFSC@C. The phase composition, morphology, magnetic properties, electromagnetic parameters, and microwave absorption properties of FFSC@C were comprehensively investigated. The oriented flaky FeSiCr possessed strong attenuation capacity, the amorphous carbon improved the impedance matching of flaky FeSiCr. The sample carbonized at 500 ℃, with the epoxy addition amount of 45 wt% exhibited a broad effective absorption bandwidth of 5.60 GHz at a thickness of 2.4 mm. Compared with other absorbents, the FFSC@C exhibited stronger absorption capacity at a lower thickness and filler loading in the X-band (8−12 GHz). This work demonstrated the facile fabrication of a high-performance carbon-coated ferromagnetic microwave absorber.

Multilevel Heterogeneous Interfaces Enhanced Polarization Loss of 3D-Printed Graphene/NiCoO2/Selenides Aerogels for Boosting Electromagnetic Energy Dissipation.

Heterointerface engineering is an attractive approach to modulating electromagnetic (EM) parameters and EM wave absorption performance. However, the weak interfacial interactions and poor impedance matching would lead to unsatisfactory EM absorption performance due to the limitation of the construction materials and design strategies. Herein, multilevel heterointerface engineering is proposed by in situ growing nanosheet-like NiCoO2 and selenides with abundant interface structures on 3D-printed graphene aerogel (GA) skeletons, which strengthens the interfacial effect and improves the dielectric polarization loss. Benefiting from the features of substantially enhanced polarization loss and optimized impedance matching, the graphene/S-NiCoO2/selenides (G/S-NCO/Se) have achieved brilliant EM wave absorption performance with a strong reflection loss (RL) value of -60.7 dB and a broad effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 8 GHz, which is about six times greater than that of the graphene aerogel (-9.8 dB). Moreover, it is further confirmed by charge density differences and off-axis electron holography that a large amount of polarized charge accumulates at the interface, leading to significant polarization relaxation behaviors. This work provides a deep understanding of the effect of a multilevel heterogeneous interface on dielectric polarization loss, which injects a fresh and infinite vitality for designing high-efficiency EM wave absorbers.

Band gap, ferromagnetic resonance and strong microwave absorption of BaFe12-2xZnxSnxO19 compounds and enhanced dielectric loss in BaFe12-2xZnxSnxO19/carbon nano tube composites

The forbidden bandgap energy, magnetic properties, natural ferromagnetic resonance and microwave absorption are studied on the Zn2+ and Sn4+ doped BaFe12-2xZnxSnxO19. The forbidden band gap of BaFe12-2xZnxSnxO19 increases with the increasing doping content x from 1.80 eV up to 1.97 eV. The coercive field, the anisotropy field and the magnetocrystalline constant of BaFe12-2xZnxSnxO19 decreases with the increasing doping. The natural ferromagnetic resonance is observed. The high permeability, accompanied with the ferromagnetic resonance, enables strong microwave absorption. BaFe10.4Zn0.8Sn0.8O19 has a wide effective microwave absorption bandwidth (RL≤-10dB) of 6 GHz with the material thickness below 2.5 mm in 11.4–17.4 GHz. The dielectric loss has little contribution to the excellent microwave absorption of BaFe12-2xZnxSnxO19. The BaFe12-2xZnxSnxO19/carbon nanotube (CNT) composites significantly increase the permittivity. The high dielectric loss and the high magnetic loss further improve the microwave absorption. With a very thin thickness of 1.8 mm, BaFe10.4Zn0.8Sn0.8O19/CNT has a bandwidth of 7.1 + GHz of 10.9–––18 + GHz. With the material thickness thinner than 3 mm, BaFe12-2xZnxSnxO19/CNT composites have very broad effective microwave absorption bandwidth of 11.4+, 10.7 and 10.7 GHz, with x = 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0, respectively. It illustrates that both BaFe10.4Zn0.8Sn0.8O19 and BaFe12-2xZnxSnxO19/CNT composites are very promising microwave absorbers.

Sodium alginate derived SiC-carbon composite aerogel for effective microwave absorption

Biomass-derived carbon aerogels are expected to be ideal candidates for electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption due to their extensive sources, cheap cost, low density and abundant porosity. Herein, using the natural polymer sodium alginate (SA) as the carbon-based precursor and SiC nano-whiskers (SiCw) as the reinforcing material, a series of three-dimensional (3D) SiCw@C composite aerogels doped with different metal ions (Fe, Ni, Al) were designed and studied for lightweight and effective EMW absorption. The emergence of metal ions and three-dimensional conductive carbon networks enriches the loss mechanism of the composites. The results show that the SiCw@C-Al exhibits a considerable minimum reflection loss (RLmin) value at 1.5 mm thickness (-28.7 dB) and a broad effective absorption bandwidth (EAB, RL < -10 dB) of 4.1 GHz. Meanwhile, SiCw@C-Fe has good wave absorption performance at a thickness of 2 mm, RLmin is −49.2 dB, and EAB is 3.6 GHz. By adjusting the matching thickness of the Al3+ and Fe3+ crosslinked composite aerogel from 1.5 mm to 3.5 mm, the integrated EAB can cover the Ku-band, X-band and even C-band. The SA derived 3D SiCw@C composite aerogels open a new path for the design of lightweight and effective EMW absorption materials used in multi-frequency.

Construction of 1T-MoS2@biomass-derived carbon electromagnetic wave absorbents with extremely broad effective absorption bandwidth of 10.4GHz

The exploitation of easily fabricated, cost-effective and high-performance electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption materials was for the sake of dealing with increasingly stern electromagnetic pollution challenge. In this work, the dragon scale-like 1T-MoS2 nanosheets were anchored on the surface of pomelo peel-derived porous carbon (PPBC) to prepare 1T-MoS2@C nanocomposites, EMW absorption performances of which were systematically investigated. When the filler loading was only 15 wt%, minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of -56.19 dB (thickness of 3.58 mm) and extremely broad effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 10.40 GHz (thickness of 2.94 mm) were achieved by adjusting the component content of 1T-MoS2@C. Exceptional EMW absorption performances of 1T-MoS2@C nanocomposites could be attributed to superb impedance matching characteristic and dielectric loss capacity. The 1T-MoS2@C nanocomposites with superior EMW absorption performance in this study could be employed as a novel candidate for electromagnetic protection materials.

Construction of three-dimensional porous network Fe-rGO aerogels with monocrystal magnetic Fe3O4@C core-shell structure nanospheres for enhanced microwave absorption

Single dielectric loss material has defects such as strong dielectric properties and impedance mismatch. Hence, developing electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption materials with both outstanding EMW absorption and favourable impedance matching performances is still a great challenge. A large number of literature have reported that combining dielectric materials with magnetic materials to enhance microwave absorption. However, there is little literature on the effect of crystal structure on the absorbing properties of materials. Owing to the virtues of light weight, low density and thin thickness of aerogel, which has been widely utilized in EMW absorption materials. Herein, Fe-based metal organic framework-reduced graphene oxide (Fe-rGO) aerogel was synthesized via simple hydrothermal method and freeze-drying. Besides, Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone (PVP) was used as a surfactant to endow Fe3O4 nanospheres with uniform size and smooth morphology. Moreover, Fe3O4 nanospheres with different crystal phase (monocrystal and polycrystal) structure were obtained under different carbonization temperatures (600 and 800 °C). Through comparison, the monocrystal Fe3O4 nanospheres show better microwave absorption and impedance matching performance than that of polycrystal Fe3O4 nanospheres. In addition, the electromagnetic parameters can be adjusted by regulating the mass ratio of Fe-based metal organic framework (Fe-MOF) to GO. As a consequence, the prepared 600Fe-rGO 2:1 aerogel achieves the minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of −64.89 dB and a broad effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 6.96 GHz with a low filling content of 5 wt%, showing excellent EMW absorption and impedance matching property. In short, the structural design of single crystal magnetic Fe3O4 nanospheres provides inspiration and guidance for future research of enhanced microwave absorption materials.

Morphology-tailored microwave absorption in MOF-derived Co9S8/Co@N, S dual-doped carbon composites via ligand-exchange induced progressive hollow engineering

Flexible manipulations of morphology and composition have been considered as an art to achieve excellent microwave absorption performance for absorbers derived from metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). In this work, a strategy combining ligand-exchange induced hollow engineering and high-temperature one-step sulfuration has been proposed to fabricate the Co9S8/Co@N, S dual-doped carbon-based absorbers with tailored solid, yolk-shelled and entirely hollow polyhedral morphologies. The progressive hollow engineering not only enables composition control in the sulfuration process, but also endows the proposed absorbers with superior microwave absorption capacity due to the enhanced conductivity loss and Maxwell-Wagner polarization as well as optimized impedance matching. The yolk-shelled Co9S8/Co@N, S dual-doped carbon-based composite achieves a broad effective absorption bandwidth of 5.13 GHz at 1.88 mm with 20 wt% loading and realizes a minimum microwave loss of − 51.78 dB @ 11.63 GHz with 2.37 mm. This work reveals that the joint strategy of ligand-exchange induced hollow engineering and gas-solid reactive thermal process is an effective path to construct high-efficient lightweight multi-interfacial microwave absorbers for addressing the electromagnetic pollutions.

Fe Single-Atoms Combined with Chitosan for Enhanced Electromagnetic Wave Absorption

On account of that the single carbon material possess exceeding electrical conductivity, which will cause impedance mismatch and thus seriously affects the electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption performance of the material. Therefore, it is an effective method to combine carbon material with magnetic material to make the material have dielectric loss and magnetic loss at the same time. In this paper, magnetic Fe nanospheres were loaded onto the conductive network of chitosan and the composite 800Fe-Chitosan was obtained through freeze drying and calcination treatment. As a result, the composite shows superior EMW absorption performance with a reflection loss (RL) of -40.22 dB and a broad effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 4.24 GHz.

Regulating the electromagnetic balance of materials by electron transfer for enhanced electromagnetic wave absorption

The fact that single dielectric loss materials have disadvantages of excessive conductivities and impedance mismatches has given rise to a large effort to develop effective strategies to fabricate electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbing materials comprised of components that bring about a balance between dielectric loss and magnetic loss. Moreover, little is known about the essential features that regulate EMW absorption propensities. This study focused on the development of a new EMW absorbing material and gaining information about factors that govern EMW absorption abilities. The materials at the center of the effort are light weight and porous cobalt sulfonated phthalocyanine-reduced graphene oxide (CoSPc-rGO) aerogels that were synthesized by using a simple hydrothermal method followed by freeze-drying. The properties of these materials that contribute to the electromagnetic balance between dielectric and magnetic loss were elucidated by first formulating a reasonable hypothesis about how the relative orientation of the components in CoSPc-rGO govern p-conjugation and electron transfer from rGO to CoSPc, which is proposed to be a key factor contributing to the regulation of the electromagnetic balance. Polarization relaxation process of materials was analyzed in detail using a variety of approaches including theoretical calculation, spectroscopic measurements, and experimental and simulation studies. The fabricated CoSPc-rGO aerogels that contain an ultra-low content of 4 % were found to exhibit an extraordinary microwave absorption performance associated with a strong reflection loss of -53.23 dB and a broad effective absorption bandwidth of 8.04 GHz. The results of this study should provide an effective guide for new designs of composite materials for EMW absorption.

Lightweight aramid nanofibers/carbon nanotubes/MnFe2O4 composite aerogel for highly efficient microwave absorption

With the booming development and wide applications of modern communication technology, wearable devices are becoming more and more popular in our life. Meanwhile, the pollution and radiation of electromagnetic wave (EMW) is becoming increasingly prominent and threating to human health, equipment operation and military security. Multi-component regulation and spatial microstructure design of microwave absorption materials is an effective strategy for solving the pollution and radiation of electromagnetic wave. Herein, aramid nanofibers/carbon nanotubes/MnFe2O4 (ACF) composite aerogel were prepared through the combination of freeze-drying technique and hydrothermal method. Impedance matching of aramid nanofibers/carbon nanotubes aerogel is improved by introducing MnFe2O4 particles, inducing to that EMW is more easily incident into aerogel and then attenuated by microwave absorber. In addition, the three-dimensional networks structure of aerogel can enhance the multiple reflection and scattering, and improve the loss capacity of EMW. ACF05 aerogel exhibits a minimum reflection loss of −64.6 dB at 12.0 GHz and broad effective absorption bandwidth of 5.0 GHz under thickness of 2.1 mm. The excellent microwave absorption (MA) performance of ACF aerogel mainly comes from the synergistic effect of three-dimensional networks structure, impedance matching, dielectric loss and magnetic loss.