Urchin-like Amorphous Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanotubes Encapsulated with Transition-Metal-Alloy@Graphene Core@Shell Nanoparticles for Microwave Energy Attenuation

Herein, we report three-dimensional (3D) urchin-like amorphous nitrogen-doped CNT (NCNT) arrays with embedded cobalt-nickel@graphene core@shell nanoparticles (NPs) in the inner parts of NCNTs (CoNi@G@NCNTs) for highly efficient absorption toward microwave (MW). The CoNi NPs are covered with about seven layers of graphene shell, resulting in the formation of CoNi@G core-shell structures. In the meanwhile, the CoNi@G core-shell NPs are further encapsulated within NCNTs. Benefitting from the multiple scattering of the unique 3D structure toward MW, cooperative effect between magnetic loss and dielectric loss, and additional interfacial polarizations, the 3D urchin-like CoNi@G@NCNTs exhibit excellent MW energy attenuation ability with a broad absorption bandwidth of 5.2 GHz with a matching thickness of merely 1.7 mm, outperforming most reported absorbers. Furthermore, the chemical stability of the 3D urchin-like CoNi@G@NCNTs is improved greatly due to the presence of the graphene coating layers and outmost NCNTs, facilitating their practical applications. Our results highlight a novel strategy for fabrication of 3D nanostructures as high-performance MW-absorbing materials.

Hierarchical Cobalt Selenides as Highly Efficient Microwave Absorbers with Tunable Frequency Response

Microwave absorbing materials have attracted much attention in solving electromagnetic interference and pollution problems. Hierarchical cobalt selenides have been obtained through a facile selenization annealing process. The as-prepared samples exhibit distinct reflection losses (R_L) and frequency responses via tailoring their crystalline configurations, with excellent absorption in Ku, X, or C band. All of the samples show R_L greater than or near -50 dB with effective bandwidths more than 4 GHz, indicating that they may serve as high-efficient and frequency-tunable microwave absorbers. Especially, the sample annealed at 400 °C shows a competitive R_L of -62.04 dB at 9.92 GHz with a thickness of 2.25 mm; meanwhile, its effective absorption bandwidth reaches 5.36 GHz with a thickness as small as 1.56 mm. The cobalt selenides as microwave absorbers exhibit a promising prospect applied in complex electromagnetic environments.

Controlling the electric permittivity of honeycomb-like core–shell Ni/CuSiO3 composite nanospheres to enhance microwave absorption properties

Controlling impedance matching and enhancing absorption properties are crucial for developing next-generation microwave absorbing materials.

Synthesis and characterization of low density porous nickel zinc ferrites

Ni–Zn ferrite has important applications in the field of soft magnetic materials due to its excellent magnetic properties, but its high bulk density hinders its promotion. Herein, an oxalate precursor was prepared by a coprecipitation method with metal sulfate and oxalic acid as raw materials. The low density porous Ni–Zn ferrite powder was prepared by thermal decomposition in an aerobic environment with the oxalate precursor. The microstructure, morphology, and dielectric and magnetic properties of Ni–Zn ferrite were studied by thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, tap density testing for powder, vibrating sample magnetometry, specific surface and aperture analysis and vector network analysis. The results showed that the purity, morphology, grain size and saturation magnetization of Ni–Zn ferrite were controlled by many factors such as synthetic temperature, retaining time and environmental conditions. Under an oxygen atmosphere, pure Ni–Zn ferrite can be prepared from an oxalate precursor by a thermal process. The ferrite has a wood-splitting appearance and a multi-layered internal cavity structure, and the bulk density is only 1/3 of the general ferrite. It has good soft magnetic and microwave absorbing properties, which makes it a potential excellent material for microwave absorbers.

Ni–Zn ferrite has important applications in the field of soft magnetic materials due to its excellent magnetic properties, but its high bulk density hinders its promotion.

Heterostructured Nanorings of Fe-Fe3O4@C Hybrid with Enhanced Microwave Absorption Performance

Microwave absorption is a critical challenge with progression in electronics, where fine structural designing of absorbent materials plays an effective role in optimizing their microwave absorption properties. Here, we have developed Fe₃O₄@C (FC) and Fe-Fe₃O₄@C (FFC) hybrid nanorings via a hydrothermal method coupled with a chemical catalytic vapor deposition technique. FC and FFC hybrid nanorings have fine carbon coating while their size can easily be tunable in a certain range from 80-130 to 90-140 nm. The optimized FC and FFC hybrid nanorings bear minimum reflection loss (RL) values of -39.1 dB at 15.9 GHz and -32.9 dB at 17.1 GHz, respectively, whereas FFC shows an effective absorption bandwidth (RL values < -10 dB) ranged from 5.2 to 18 GHz. Such an enhanced microwave absorption performance of hybrid nanorings is mainly due to the suitable impedance characteristics, multilevel interfaces, and polarization features in nanorings. This work provides an approach to design hybrid materials having a complex structure to enhance the microwave absorption properties.

Encapsulating metal nanoparticles inside carbon nanoflakes: a stable absorbent designed from free-standing sandwiched composites

A simple two-step method was used to achieve a stable free-standing sandwich shaped Ni/C nanoflakes absorber with higher conductive loss.

Carbon Hollow Microspheres with a Designable Mesoporous Shell for High-Performance Electromagnetic Wave Absorption

In this work, mesoporous carbon hollow microspheres (PCHMs) with designable mesoporous shell and interior void are constructed by a facile in situ stöber templating approach and a pyrolysis-etching process. The PCHMs are characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectra, Raman spectroscopy, and nitrogen adsorption and desorption system. A uniform mesoporous shell (pore size 4.7 nm) with a thickness of 55 nm and a cavity size of 345 nm is realized. The composite of paraffin mixed with 20 wt % PCHMs exhibits a minimum reflection coefficient (RC_min) of -84 dB at 8.2 GHz with a sample thickness of 3.9 mm and an effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 4.8 GHz below -10 dB (>90% electromagnetic wave is attenuated). Moreover, the composite of phenolic resin mixed with 20 wt % PCHMs exhibits an ultrawide EAB of 8 GHz below -10 dB with a thinner thickness of 2.15 mm. Such excellent electromagnetic wave absorption properties are ascribed to the large carbon-air interface in the mesoporous shell and interior void, which is favorable for the matching of characteristic impedance as compared with carbon hollow microspheres and carbon solid microspheres. Considering the excellent performance of PCHMs, we believe the as-fabricated PCHMs can be promising candidates as highly effective microwave absorbers, and the design philosophy can be extended to other spherical absorbers.

Facile design of a ZnO nanorod–Ni core–shell composite with dual peaks to tune its microwave absorption properties

The Ni/ZnO composites show two wide attractive absorption bands, which could broaden the effective absorption bandwidth.

1D Cu@Ni nanorods anchored on 2D reduced graphene oxide with interfacial engineering to enhance microwave absorption properties

In this work, one-dimensional core–shell Cu@Ni nanorods which were anchored on two dimensional reduced graphene oxide (rGO) heterostructures were successfully prepared by a simple co-reduction method.

Lightweight porous Co3O4 and Co/CoO nanofibers with tunable impedance match and configuration-dependent microwave absorption properties

In this study, we fabricated one-dimensional porous Co₃O₄ and Co/CoO nanofibers by calcination of cobalt(ii) oxalate dehydrate precursors in an environment filled with air and N₂, respectively.

Yolk-Shell Ni@SnO2 Composites with a Designable Interspace To Improve the Electromagnetic Wave Absorption Properties

In this study, yolk-shell Ni@SnO₂ composites with a designable interspace were successfully prepared by the simple acid etching hydrothermal method. The Ni@void@SnO₂ composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The results indicate that interspaces exist between the Ni cores and SnO₂ shells. Moreover, the void can be adjusted by controlling the hydrothermal reaction time. The unique yolk-shell Ni@void@SnO₂ composites show outstanding electromagnetic wave absorption properties. A minimum reflection loss (RL_min) of -50.2 dB was obtained at 17.4 GHz with absorber thickness of 1.5 mm. In addition, considering the absorber thickness, minimal reflection loss, and effective bandwidth, a novel method to judge the effective microwave absorption properties is proposed. On the basis of this method, the best microwave absorption properties were obtained with a 1.7 mm thick absorber layer (RL_min= -29.7 dB, bandwidth of 4.8 GHz). The outstanding electromagnetic wave absorption properties stem from the unique yolk-shell structure. These yolk-shell structures can tune the dielectric properties of the Ni@air@SnO₂ composite to achieve good impedance matching. Moreover, the designable interspace can induce interfacial polarization, multiple reflections, and microwave plasma.

A MWCNT–nanoparticle composite as a highly efficient lightweight electromagnetic wave absorber in the range of 4–18 GHz

The nanocomposite has an excellent EM wave attenuation ability with a wide absorption band (4–18 GHz), strong absorption (−52.4 dB) and low absorber thickness (strong absorption from 4 to 18 GHz at thicknesses between 1.1 and 3.7 mm).

Solvothermal synthesis of flower-like CoS hollow microspheres with excellent microwave absorption properties

In this study, flower-like CoS hollow spheres (CHSs), synthesized via a facile solvothermal method in the presence of CTAB, were initially investigated as microwave absorbers.

Synthesis of Cu and Ni chalcogenides and evaluation of their properties for electromagnetic wave absorption

Cu and Ni chalcogenides were synthesized by hydrothermal methods and characterized by XRD and SEM.

Preparation of Honeycomb SnO₂ Foams and Configuration-Dependent Microwave Absorption Features

Ordered honeycomb-like SnO2 foams were successfully synthesized by means of a template method. The honeycomb SnO2 foams were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric and differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC), laser Raman spectra, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR). It can be found that the SnO2 foam configurations were determined by the size of polystyrene templates. The electromagnetic properties of ordered SnO2 foams were also investigated by a network analyzer. The results reveal that the microwave absorption properties of SnO2 foams were dependent on their configuration. The microwave absorption capabilities of SnO2 foams were increased by increasing the size of pores in the foam configuration. Furthermore, the electromagnetic wave absorption was also correlated with the pore contents in SnO2 foams. The large and high amounts pores can bring about more interfacial polarization and corresponding relaxation. Thus, the perfect ordered honeycomb-like SnO2 foams obtained in the existence of large amounts of 322 nm polystyrene spheres showed the outstanding electromagnetic wave absorption properties. The minimal reflection loss (RL) is -37.6 dB at 17.1 GHz, and RL less than -10 dB reaches 5.6 GHz (12.4-18.0 GHz) with thin thickness of 2.0 mm. The bandwidth (<-10 dB, 90% microwave dissipation) can be monitored in the frequency regime of 4.0-18.0 GHz with absorber thickness of 2.0-5.0 mm. The results indicate that these ordered honeycomb SnO2 foams show the superiorities of wide-band, high-efficiency absorption, multiple reflection and scatting, high antioxidation, lightweight, and thin thickness.

Facile Synthesis of Novel Heterostructure Based on SnO2 Nanorods Grown on Submicron Ni Walnut with Tunable Electromagnetic Wave Absorption Capabilities

In this work, the magnetic-dielectric core-shell heterostructure composites with the core of Ni submicron spheres and the shell of SnO2 nanorods were prepared by a facile two-step route. The crystal structure and morphology were investigated by X-ray diffraction analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). FESEM and TEM measurements present that SnO2 nanorods were perpendicularly grown on the surfaces of Ni spheres and the density of the SnO2 nanorods could be tuned by simply varying the addition amount of Sn(2+) in this process. The morphology of Ni/SnO2 composites were also determined by the concentration of hydrochloric acid and a plausible formation mechanism of SnO2 nanorods-coated Ni spheres was proposed based on hydrochloric acid concentration dependent experiments. Ni/SnO2 composites exhibit better thermal stability than pristine Ni spheres based on thermalgravimetric analysis (TGA). The measurement on the electromagnetic (EM) parameters indicates that SnO2 nanorods can improve the impedance matching condition, which is beneficial for the improvement of electromagnetic wave absorption. When the coverage density of SnO2 nanorod is in an optimum state (diameter of 10 nm and length of about 40-50 nm), the optimal reflection loss (RL) of electromagnetic wave is -45.0 dB at 13.9 GHz and the effective bandwidth (RL below -10 dB) could reach to 3.8 GHz (12.3-16.1 GHz) with the absorber thickness of only 1.8 mm. By changing the loading density of SnO2 nanorods, the best microwave absorption state could be tuned at 1-18 GHz band. These results pave an efficient way for designing new types of high-performance electromagnetic wave absorbing materials.

Morphology-Control Synthesis of a Core-Shell Structured NiCu Alloy with Tunable Electromagnetic-Wave Absorption Capabilities

In this work, dendritelike and rodlike NiCu alloys were prepared by a one-pot hydrothermal process at various reaction temperatures (120, 140, and 160 °C). The structure and morphology were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy, which that demonstrate NiCu alloys have core-shell heterostructures with Ni as the shell and Cu as the core. The formation mechanism of the core-shell structures was also discussed. The uniform and perfect dendritelike NiCu alloy obtained at 140 °C shows outstanding electromagnetic-wave absorption properties. The lowest reflection loss (RL) of -31.13 dB was observed at 14.3 GHz, and the effective absorption (below -10 dB, 90% attenuation) bandwidth can be adjusted between 4.4 and 18 GHz with a thin absorber thickness in the range of 1.2-4.0 mm. The outstanding electromagnetic-wave-absorbing properties are ascribed to space-charge polarization arising from the heterogeneous structure of the NiCu alloy, interfacial polarization between the alloy and paraffin, and continuous micronetworks and vibrating microcurrent dissipation originating from the uniform and perfect dendritelike shape of NiCu prepared at 140 °C.

One-pot in situ molten salt synthesis of octahedral Fe3O4for efficient microwave absorption application

Octahedral Fe₃O₄particles were synthesized through the combination of thermal decomposition with a molten salt method. F-800 exhibits excellent microwave absorption behavior with a thickness of 1.4 mm.

A carbon fiber based three-phase heterostructure composite CF/Co0.2Fe2.8O4/PANI as an efficient electromagnetic wave absorber in the Ku band

The synthesized three-phase heterostructure composite CF/Co_0.2Fe_2.8O₄/PANI shows an excellent EM wave attenuation performance in the K_u band and the minimum RL values are all lower than −20 dB with an absorber thickness of 3.1–4.1 mm.

Preparation and electromagnetic wave absorption properties of novel dendrite-like NiCu alloy composite

The dendrite-like NiCu alloys show outstanding microwave absorption properties with the features of thin-thickness, strong absorption and wide-band.

Preparation and microwave absorption properties of multi-walled carbon nanotubes decorated with Ni-doped SnO2 nanocrystals

Ni-doped SnO₂@MWCNTs composites were synthesized by a facile one-step hydrothermal method, and had a maximum reflection loss of −39.2 dB at 8.2 GHz and the absorption bandwidth of reflection loss lower than −10 dB was 3.6 GHz.