Excellent Microwave Absorption Research Articles

Enhancing microwave absorption via ion exchange-regulated metal elemental-alloy transition behavior

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are considered as suitable candidates for excellent microwave absorption (MA) materials. However, the influence of the transition behavior from metal to alloy dominated by the metal ion ratio and the accompanying multi-phase coexistence model on the MA mechanism is unclear. This study successfully prepared a series of porous electromagnetic composite materials through ion-exchange in-situ pyrolysis synergistic strategy. The results indicate that the modulation of the Fe/Co ion ratio can easily manipulate the phase transition from Co metal to FeCo alloy-cobalt ferrite and the crystal defects within. The state of metal/alloy coexistence obtained at a low ion exchange degree has the highest concentration of vacancies, which is conducive to wideband absorption (6.03 GHz) and efficient loss (−67.44 dB) of MA performance. In contrast, the MA performance of samples at medium/high ion exchange degrees is not ideal. In addition, the application prospects of this material were demonstrated by simulating the actual absorption situation using radar cross-section. In summary, this work reveals the intrinsic relationship between the phase evolution behavior determined by the ion exchange degree in MOF derivatives and the electromagnetic performance, as well as the MA mechanism, providing a new reference for the preparation and design of outstanding MA materials.

Excellent dielectric response and microwave absorption in magnetic field-induced magnetic ordered structures

Weak interactions prevent the magnetic particles from achieving excellent electromagnetic wave absorption (EMA) at a low filler loading (FL). The construction of one-dimensional magnetic metal fibers (1D-MMFs) contributes to the formation of an electromagnetic (EM) coupling network, enhancing EM properties at a low FL. However, precisely controlling the length of 1D-MMFs to regulate permittivity at low FL poses a challenge. Herein, a novel magnetic field-assisted growth strategy was used to fabricate Co-based fibers with adjustable permittivity and aspect ratios. With a variety of FL changes, centimeter-level Co long fibers (Co-lf) consistently exhibited higher permittivity than Co particles and Co short fibers due to the enhancement of the effective EM coupling. The Co-lf exhibits excellent EMA performance (–54.85 dB, 5.8 GHz) at 10 wt.% FL. Meanwhile, heterogeneous interfaces were introduced to increase the interfacial polarization through a fine phosphorylation design, resulting in elevated EMA performances (–51.50 dB, 6.6 GHz) at 10 wt.% FL for Co2P/Co long fibers. This study improves the orderliness of the particle arrangement by regulating the length of 1D-MMFs, which affects the behavior of electrons inside the fibers, providing a new perspective for improving the EMA properties of magnetic materials at a low FL.

Optimizing the electromagnetic wave absorption properties of core-shell Fe/FeN/Fe3C@GN nanoparticles by low-temperature NH3 plasma

Surface modification via low-temperature plasma has an extensive application prospect in different engineering fields due to its comprehensive merits in facilitating the introduction of functional groups and creating more heterogeneous interfaces. Herein, a simple high-temperature plasma method is developed to get novel multiple-phase nanocomposites of core-shell Fe/FeN/Fe3C@GN nanoparticles with bifunctional characteristics of microwave absorption (MA) and anti-corrosion. And then, we further investigate the MA properties of Fe/FeN/Fe3C@GN nanoparticles after low-temperature NH3 plasma etching. It is found that surface modification of Fe/FeN/Fe3C@GN nanoparticles can generate remarkable changes in specific surface areas, Raman features and MA properties of these nanocomposites. The Fe/FeN/Fe3C@GN nanoparticles after NH3 plasma etching possess excellent MA properties with an optimal reflection loss (RL) of −51.0 dB at an ultra-thin thickness of 1.9 mm with a low filling content of 30 wt% and the corresponding effective absorption bandwidth (EAB < −10 dB) up to 4.7 GHz (13.3–18.0 GHz). The fascinating MA properties of etched Fe/FeN/Fe3C@GN nanoparticles may be attributed to the cooperative effect of several points: (i) The NH3 plasma etch introduces a large number of polar functional groups, which can be regarded as the polarization center to produce more polarization loss; (ii) The appropriate dielectric loss and impedance matching achieve a good balance, and the abundant heterogeneous interface significantly enhances the polarization relaxation loss; (iii) The existence of hetero-nanostructure further improves the multiple reflections and scattering of the propagating microwaves. In addition, this work provides a new strategy for the design and fabrication of core-shell MA materials.

RETRACTED: Optimizing microwave energy utilization & heating efficiency: Comparative analysis of susceptor materials for enhanced microwave absorption performance

Susceptors are vital components in microwave heating systems, ensuring efficient, selective, and uniform heating while improving both energy utilization and time effectiveness in various microwave processing applications. The present investigation underlines the microwave absorption performance of various silicon carbide (SiC) susceptors during microwave hybrid heating. The current study also explores methods, including theoretical analysis, simulations, and experiments, to identify most suitable SiC susceptor materials for efficient microwave heating (high microwave absorbing and energy utilization efficiency). Among all susceptor materials, porous nitride-bonded SiC exhibited combination of high properties including permittivity (9.64), loss tangent (0.268), reflection loss (−13.32 dB) and attenuation constant (21.12 Np/m) when microwave heating carried at 1.2 kW, 900 s. Porous nitride-bonded SiC susceptor emerged as optimal choice for most appropriate susceptor material on the basis of theoretical analysis (reflection loss, impedance, microwave attenuation constant, dielectric properties) as compared to other susceptors. The microwave absorption mechanism of various SiC susceptor materials have been established and summarized. The microwave heating behaviour of various SiC susceptors with different compositions were analysed using COMSOL simulations. A higher microwave utilization efficiency was observed by COMSOL simulation for the porous nitride-bonded SiC (95 %) susceptor than dense nitride-bonded SiC (78 %), dense SiC (69 %) and dense oxide-bonded SiC (58 %). The excellent microwave absorption capability of porous nitride-bonded SiC susceptor can be ascribed to synergistic efforts of various polarization mechanisms: dipole polarization, interfacial polarization, multiple reflections and scatterings, defect-induced dipole polarization and conductive loss.

Molybdenum disulfide modified silicon carbide ceramic nanofiber: Phase engineering for tuning microwave absorption properties of absorbers

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is an important two-dimension multifunction material, which is widely used in semiconductor devices due to its special electrical properties. However, the electromagnetic wave absorption performance of MoS2 is severely limited as a result of the impedance mismatch between the material and free space. To address this issue, effective strategies of phase engineering and in situ growth techniques are employed to synthesize 2 H MoS2, 1 T/2 H MoS2, SiC@2 H MoS2, and SiC@1 T/2 H MoS2 composites. The electromagnetic absorbing property data reveal that the minimum reflection loss can reach 58.04 dB at 11.16 GHz in a 2.5 mm thick SiC@1 T/2 H MoS2 nanofiber coating; the effective absorbing bandwidth is up to 5.04 GHz (9.16–14.2 GHz). From the detailed analysis, it can be seen that the dielectric loss strength and the degree of impedance matching are the critical factors impacting the microwave absorption properties. The attenuation mechanisms underlying the excellent microwave absorption performance and related phenomena are explored, opening new directions for synthesizing MoS2-based electromagnetic wave absorbing materials with efficient and broadband.

Silica coated MOFs-derived composites with excellent electromagnetic wave absorption and corrosion resistance

The microwave absorber with excellent corrosion resistance is an ideal layer for stealth applications in marine environments. Silica coated MOF-derived anti-corrosion absorbers were successfully fabricated by the Stöber method. The resulting powder demonstrated excellent performance not only in microwave absorption but also in corrosion resistance. The effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of coated-12 reached 4.1 GHz and the minimum reflection loss (RLmin) came to −59.8 dB at 15.18 GHz in a 1.3 thickness with an 80 wt% filling ratio. The outstanding absorption performance is put down to the matched impedance and the various loss mechanism synergy. Besides, the electrochemical corrosion test revealed that the compact silica coating protected the inner corrodible magnetic metal nanoparticles from the outer corrosive environment. This work provides a reasonable and feasible method for synthesizing an excellent microwave absorber suitable for harsh environments.

Highly enhanced microwave absorption of carbon nanotube/nickel/styrene-butadiene-styrene composite with segregated structure

High-performance microwave absorption (MA) polymer composites are highly required in electromagnetic protection. Although the desirable MA performance of many MA absorbers is obtained, its loading of obtaining optimal MA performance still is too high, which is not beneficial to the mechanical properties of polymer composites. In this work, based on the concept of segregated structure, the selective distribution of carbon nanotube/nickel (CNT/Ni) particles was successfully achieved in the styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) matrix via hot-compression molding. The CNT/Ni/SBS composites with segregated structure present an excellent MA performance when the filler content is only 5 wt%, including the minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of −42.7 dB and effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 6.6 GHz, which shows 27.3 % and 8.2 % increases in comparison to the optimal MA performance of the composites with randomly dispersed structure (10 wt%). In addition, the elongation at break and tensile strength of CNT/Ni/SBS composites can reach 1222 % and 14.3 MPa, respectively, showing great application potential as flexible MA materials. The efficient method provides a promising way to improve the function efficiency of MA absorbers and develop high-performance MA polymer composites with low filler loading in the future.

In Situ Synthesis of an Epoxy Resin Microwave Absorption Coating with Anti-Ultraviolet Aging Effects

A nanoparticle-anchored three-dimensional microsphere flower-structured layered double hydroxide (LDH) material with Fe3O4 particles was successfully prepared using simple hydrothermal and hot solvent methods. Micro-nanostructured Fe3O4@LDHs (SLF) composites balance microwave absorption, corrosion protection, and UV aging resistance. The minimum reflection loss value of SLF is −35.75 dB at 14.16 GHz, when the absorber thickness is 8 mm, and the absorption bandwidth at this frequency is up to 2.56 GHz for RL values less than −10 dB, while the LL is only 1 GHz. The SLF /EP coating has not only excellent microwave absorption performance but also excellent corrosion and UV aging resistance performance. The coating still has some anti-corrosion effect after 10 d of immersion. This work is intended as a reference for the development of new coatings with excellent microwave absorption properties as well as corrosion and UV aging resistance for wind turbine tower barrels (seaside wind power generation equipment) surfaces.

Multi-electron transfer mechanism and band structures of CNTs in MOF-derived CNTs/Co hybrids for enhanced electromagnetic wave absorption property

Metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived magnetic metal/carbon nanocomposites have received widespread attention for electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption. The present study introduces a novel approach to MOF composite material design by constructing composites modified with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and magnetic Co nanoparticles. The carbon confinement effect in CNT/Co not only regulates the electronic structure of Co-C bonds, but also maintains the redox cycle of Co0/2→Co3+→Co0/2+, improving electronic activity and exhibiting synergistic integration characteristics of efficient electromagnetic wave absorption. Particularly, the maximum reflection loss (RLmin) of CNTs/Co-900 reached −52.7 dB at 4.67 GHz in the case of an absorber thickness of 1.6 mm. The excellent microwave absorption performance may be attributed to the interwoven structure formed by novel ZIF-67, CNTs, and Co metal nanoparticles and the double loss of magnetic Co and dielectric CNTs. In addition, the band gap of CNTs was calculated to be Eg = 0.27 eV by the semi-empirical tight-binding method with DFTB+. It is confirmed that CNTs have high electron migration ability, which is beneficial to conductive loss. It is confirmed that CNTs have high electron migration ability, which is beneficial to conductive loss. This study provides a novel strategy for the development of metal-organic framework-based magnetic particles/carbon nanocomposites for electromagnetic wave absorption.

Excellent microwave absorption property of 3D printed SiCN matrix metamaterial

The combination of 3D printing, polymer derived ceramics, and electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption metamaterials is particularly useful for spacecraft stealth in extreme environments and is gradually gaining significant interest. While the 3D printing of SiOC has been extensively researched, the high temperature stability and mechanical performance of SiOC are not as favorable as SiCN. However, it remains challenging to prepare SiCN metamaterials with both high mechanical and microwave absorption properties by 3D printing. Herein, we demonstrate a SiCN EMW absorption metamaterial with high mechanical properties using digital light processing 3D printing, which achieves a minimum reflection loss of −31.01 dB (99.9 % absorption), and the widest effective absorption bandwidth covers the entire X-band from 8.2 to 12.4 GHz. And the EMW absorption performance can be adjusted based on the size of the unit structure.

EVA copolymer loaded with PAni/CNT/GNP hybrids: A flexible and lightweight material with high microwave absorption

AbstractMicrowave‐absorbing materials are widely used for electromagnetic interference shielding and stealth technology. However, most existing materials are heavy, rigid, and expensive, limiting their practical applications. Therefore, there is a need to develop new materials that are flexible, lightweight, and cost effective. This study aimed to synthesize and characterize a novel ternary composite material based on polyaniline (PAni), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) in an ethylene‐vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer matrix. PAni‐based ternary composites were prepared by in situ polymerization of aniline in toluene dispersion of CNT/GNP hybrids and EVA. The microwave absorption properties were evaluated using a vector network analyzer in the frequency range of 8.2–18 GHz. The presence of as little as 0.8 wt% of CNT/GNP hybrid with appropriate mass ratio increased the conductivity by more than four orders of magnitude compared to the EVA@PAni blend. The minimum reflection loss corresponded to −40.55 dB at 16.31 GHz for the system containing CNT/GNP = 0.3:0.7, whereas those with CNT/GNP = 0.0:1.0 and 0.7:0.3 presented the widest effective absorption bandwidths (RL &lt; −10 dB), covering almost the entire Ku‐band. Due to the excellent flexibility, low weight, and high microwave absorption performance, these composites are potential candidates for microwave absorption applications.

Interface Engineering of Titanium Nitride Nanotube Composites for Excellent Microwave Absorption at Elevated Temperature

HighlightsThe boosted heterogeneous interfaces in titanium nitride (TiN) nanotube/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite contributed to strong polarization loss relaxation ability.The TiN nanotubes/PDMS composite possessed both good impedance matching behavior and strong dielectric loss ability in wide temperature spectrum.The TiN nanotubes/PDMS composite exhibited excellent EMWA performances (effective absorption bandwidth value of 3.23 GHz and minimum reflection loss value of − 44.15 dB) at the varied temperature from 298 to 573 K.

Elaborate structural design of polypyrrole-based microwave absorbers: Synthesis, enhanced dielectric characteristics, and superior absorption capability

Intrinsically conductive polymers are expected as an advanced microwave absorption material due to their adjustable dielectric characteristics and low density. In this investigation, polypyrrole (PPy) with spherical aggregation and nanofiber structures were successfully synthesized by chemical oxidation polymerization strategy. The impact of reaction conditions on the structure, morphology, size, and chemical constituents has been investigated. The results indicate that the strong interfacial interaction between dopamine and pyrrole monomer leads to the formation of nanofibers. Because of the synergistic effect of favorable impedance matching, improved dielectric loss, and conductive loss, the PPy aggregations with nanosized particles exhibit outstanding absorption capability. At 6.32 GHz, the minimum reflection loss even reaches -46.73 dB. The effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) covers a broad frequency range of 6.51 GHz. Our work provides a versatile strategy for PPy-based materials with elaborately structural design to achieve excellent and modulated microwave absorption capability.

Electromagnetic wave absorption mechanism and wear corrosion characteristics of Ti3SiC2 MAX phase-doped Ni/AlN composite coating with core-shell structure based on laser cladding-induced pitaya-like multi-level heterogeneous interface

To satisfy the service requirements of wave-absorbing materials in harsh environments, it is important to design and manufacture corrosion-resistant composite-absorbing materials. According to the strategy of impedance matching and the dissipation behaviour of nickel-based alloys, AlN ceramics, and MAX-phase Ti3SiC2 multicomponent composite-regulated materials were studied. As an additive manufacturing technology, multilevel heterointerface composites with core–shell structures were obtained by laser cladding. The construction of a unique core–shell structure of a metal–ceramic and ceramic (core)–ceramic (shell) multi-level heterogeneous interface increased the interfacial relaxation and multiple dissipation and improved the impedance matching. The results enabled the N20M3 cladding coating to exhibit excellent microwave absorption characteristics, with a reflection loss of −32.84 dB at the ultra-thin thickness of 1.8 mm. Additionally, the composites exhibited excellent corrosion resistance, high hardness, and relatively good resistance to erosion wear. This work promotes the durability of wave-absorbing materials under severe conditions, as well as the integration of the efficient manufacturing of wave-absorbing materials.

Multi-dimensional nano-microstructures design of MOF-derived CoSe2@N–C composites toward excellent microwave absorption

Nano-microstructures design enabled the controlled tuning of electromagnetic parameters to obtain high-performance microwave absorption materials (MAM). Herein, Metal-Organic Frameworks-derived (MOFs-derived) CoSe2@Nitrogen-doped Carbon (CoSe2@N–C) materials with controllable nano-microstructures also exhibit tunable morphologies from dodecahedra-, cube-, fusiform-to sheet-like by adjusting the solvent and the molar ratio of cobalt/ligand. The organic frameworks are maintained by pyrolysis selenization, forming a unique CoSe2@N–C three-dimensional conduction network that broadens electron transport and electromagnetic wave multiple reflection routes, enhances conduction loss capability, and optimizes impedance matching. The confinement of ligand-derived carbon can avoid the agglomeration of CoSe2, forming rich heterogeneous interfaces within CoSe2@N–C, enhancing interfacial polarization loss. Symmetric models are developed to reveal the importance of destructive interference on the microwave absorption property. In addition, dipole polarization of defects and doped-nitrogen further encourages the enhancement of the microwave absorption properties of CoSe2@N–C. The CoSe2@N–C-d exhibits the best microwave absorption properties with a minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of −42.31 dB at 15.62 GHz in a thickness of 1.5 mm, and an effective absorption bandwidth of 4.25 GHz. The excellent absorption performance of CoSe2@N–C paves the way for the design and synthesis of high-performance absorbers.

Ti3C2Tx/PANI/CoNi as a ternary composite material unveiling excellent microwave absorption performance

Ti3C2Tx MXene material exhibits exceptional dielectric properties and a distinct layered structure, making it a noteworthy microwave absorbing material. However, its microwave absorption performance is limited due to poor impedance matching and a single loss mechanism. To address these issues, this work develops a solvothermal method to introduce the magnetic component CoNi alloy and generate organic polymer PANI through in-situ polymerization, resulting in the preparation of Ti3C2Tx/PANI/CoNi ternary composites that significantly improve impedance matching and microwave absorption performance. The microwave absorption properties of the binary and ternary composites are compared, and the superior performance of the ternary composites is emphasized. Among the ternary composites, M-P-CN 3:1:8 exhibited an excellent microwave absorption performance, demonstrating a minimum RL value of −55.48 dB and an effective absorption bandwidth of 5.1 GHz at a thickness of 2.0 mm. The synergistic effect of multiple loss mechanisms, multilayer structures, and multiple interfacial polarization methods further contribute to the enhanced microwave absorption performance of ternary composites. This study provides a straightforward method for synthesizing and designing multi-component composite absorbing materials based on MXene.

Hierarchical porous biomass-derived carbon with rich nitrogen doping for high-performance microwave absorption and tensile strain sensing

Carbon materials with porous structure and heteroatom doping have been proposed as promising microwave absorption materials. The development of materials with the integration of multiple functions is one of the main development directions and challenges of microwave absorbers. Herein, rich nitrogen-doped biomass-derived carbon (NBC) with coexistence of mesopores and macropores is developed from banana peels by hydrothermal and activation-assisted carbonization methods. The NBC exhibits excellent microwave absorption ability with thin thickness, light weight, broadband and strong absorption features. By mixing with paraffin (5 wt% NBC loading), the minimum reflection loss and effective absorption bandwidth of the composite can reach −53 dB and 4.22 GHz at a thin thickness of 1.70 mm. The corresponding specific reflection loss can reach −311.76 dB/cm, which is among the best of most-reported biomass-derived carbon microwave absorbers. On the other hand, through the reinforcement of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), the NBC/TPU composite exhibits good cyclic stability in tensile strain measurements. Furthermore, by integrating the strain sensor with an electrochemical metallization memristor and a resistor, a skin-inspired strain-memory which can retain the information after the remove of external stretch was presented as a proof of concept. This work provides a simple and effective method to develop multifunctional materials for microwave absorption and tensile strain sensing.

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.

Cation Bimetallic MOF Anchored Carbon Fiber for Highly Efficient Microwave Absorption.

Carbon fiber (CF) is a potential microwave absorption (MA) material due to the strong dielectric loss. Nevertheless, owing to the high conductivity, poor impedance matching of carbon-based materials results in limited MA performance. How to solve this problem and achieve excellent MA performance remains a principal challenge. Herein, taking full advantage of CF and excellent impedance matching of bimetallic metal-organic frameworks (MOF)derivatives layer, an excellent microwave absorber based on micron-scale 1D CF and NiCoMOF (CF@NiCoMOF-800)is developed. After adjusting the oxygen vacancies of the bimetallic MOF, the resultant microwave absorber presented excellent MA properties including the minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of -80.63dB and wide effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 8.01GHz when its mass percent is only 5wt.% and the thickness is 2.59mm. Simultaneously, the mechanical properties of the epoxy resin (EP)-based coating with this microwave absorber are effectively improved. The hardness (H), elastic modulus (E), bending strength, and compressive strength of CF@NiCoMOF-800/EP coating are 334MPa, 5.56GPa, 82.2MPa, and 135.8MPa, which is 38%, 15%, 106% and 53% higher than EP coating. This work provides a promising solution for carbon materials achieving excellent MA properties and mechanical properties.

Microwave absorbing performance of reduced graphene oxide @ alumina fabricated by atomic layer deposition method

In this work, a series of alumina coating reduced graphene oxide (RGO@Al2O3) composites with core-shell structure was synthesized by the atomic layer deposition (ALD) method. The alumina (Al2O3) thickness of the RGO@Al2O3 could be controlled by changing the number of ALD cycles. The microstructure, high-temperature resistance, and microwave absorbing properties of the composites were investigated in detail. The composite could provide excellent high-temperature resistance and microwave absorbing properties. The composite started decomposition at 620 °C. The maximum reflection loss value of the composite obtained by applying 200 Al2O3 deposition cycles is −14.2 dB at 15.7 GHz, and its effective absorption bandwidth reaches 5.0 GHz (13.0–18.0 GHz). The results show that the RGO@Al2O3 composite has the potential application in high-temperature microwave absorbing fields, due to excellent high-temperature resistance, reflection loss, and effective absorption bandwidth.