Economical synthesis of composites of FeNi alloy nanoparticles evenly dispersed in two-dimensional reduced graphene oxide as thin and effective electromagnetic wave absorbers

Research progress and future perspectives on electromagnetic wave absorption of fibrous materials

Electromagnetic waves have caused great harm to military safety, high-frequency electronic components, and precision instruments, and so forth, which urgently requires the development of lightweight, high-efficiency, broadband electromagnetic waves (EMW) absorbing materials for protection. As the basic fibrous materials, carbon fibers (CFs) and SiC fibers (SiCf) have been widely applied in EMW absorption due to their intrinsic characteristics of low density, high mechanical properties, high conductivity, and dielectric loss mechanism. Nevertheless, it has remained a great challenge to develop lightweight EMW-absorbing fibrous materials with strong absorption capability and broad frequency range. In this review, the fundamental electromagnetic attenuation mechanisms are firstly introduced. Furthermore, the preparation, structure, morphology, and absorbing performance of CFs and SiCf-based EMW absorbing composites are summarized. In addition, prospective research opportunities are highlighted toward the development of fibrous absorbing materials with the excellent absorption performance.

A crosslinked coral-like Co@CoO/RGO nanohybrid structure with good electromagnetic wave absorption performance

The combination of magnetic and dielectric materials followed by appropriate structure design is an effective approach to achieve high electromagnetic wave absorption properties. Here, crosslinked Co@CoO/reduced graphene oxide nanohybrids (CCRGO) were fabricated via a simple three-step method. The experimental results show that compared with previous works, the as-prepared CCRGO nanohybrids achieve higher electromagnetic wave absorption and broader effective bandwidth at a lower filler loading. The electromagnetic parameters and electromagnetic wave absorption performance could be apparently adjusted by controlling the adding content of graphene oxide (GO) and the reduction temperature. Among a series of samples, CCRGO3-650 nanohybrid yields the best electromagnetic wave absorption performance benefiting from the proper GO addition and reduction temperature. At a filler loading of 20 wt%, the maximal reflection loss reaches to -64.67 dB at a thickness of 2.53 mm and the effective bandwidth below -10 dB covers the whole X band at a thickness of 2.51 mm. The good performance may be ascribed to the advantages of the dielectric and magnetic component as well as the special crosslinked structure, which triggers a synergistic absorption mechanism including multiple reflection/scattering, interface polarization, dipole polarization, conductive loss, eddy current loss, exchange resonance in the electromagnetic wave dissipation process. The good electromagnetic wave absorption performance affirms the potential application of CCRGO nanohybrids in the field of stealth materials.

Humins with Efficient Electromagnetic Wave Absorption: A By-Product of Furfural Conversion to Isopropyl Levulinate via a Tandem Catalytic Reaction in One-Pot

Both one-pot catalytic conversion of furfural (FAL) to isopropyl levulinate (PL) and carbonization of by-product (humins) for electromagnetic wave absorption are discussed, which provides inspiration that humins can be applied to electromagnetic wave absorption. In the former, phosphotungstic acid (PW) is employed as a homogeneous catalyst to convert FAL to PL via a tandem reaction in one pot, with the formation of a vast amount of humins. With FAL and various intermediates as substrates, it was found that humins was a polymerization product of FAL, furfuryl alcohol (FOL) and furfuryl ester (FE) with furan rings. In addition, the in situ attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR) spectra also provided a basis for the proposed reaction route. In the latter, with the humins as raw material, P species and WO₃ doped nano-porous carbon (Humins-700) platform formed after high-temperature annealing is used for electromagnetic wave absorption and manifests desirable absorption performance. The minimum reflection loss (RL_min ) value is -47.3 dB at 13.0 GHz with a thickness of 2.0 mm and the effective absorption bandwidth reaches 4.5 GHz (11.2-5.7 GHz).

A comparative study on the dielectric response and microwave absorption performance of FeNi-capped carbon nanotubes and FeNi-cored carbon nanoparticles

The mechanisms responsible for the dielectric response of C-based microwave absorbers remain a long-standing theoretical question. Uncovering these mechanisms is critical to enhance their microwave absorption performance. To determine how different C forms alter the dielectric response of C-based absorbers, FeNi-capped carbon nanotubes (FeNi-CNTs) and FeNi-cored carbon nanoparticles (FeNi-CNPs) are synthesized, and a comparative study of their dielectric responses is then carried out in this study. The as-synthesized FeNi-CNTs and FeNi-CNPs have similar magnetic properties and complex permeabilities, but differ in complex permittivities. It is shown that FeNi-CNTs have a much stronger dielectric loss than FeNi-CNPs. At a thickness of 2.8 mm, a low optimal reflection loss of -32.2 dB and a broad effective absorption bandwidth of 8.0 GHz are achieved for FeNi-CNTs. Meanwhile, equivalent circuit models reveal that the CNT network of the FeNi-CNTs could introduce an electrical inductance that can effectively improve its dielectric loss capability. This study demonstrates that designing a composite with a tailored C form and composition is a successful strategy for tuning its microwave absorption performance. Furthermore, the equivalent circuit modeling is an effective tool for analyzing the dielectric response of the microwave absorbers, as is expected to be applicable for other metal-C composites.

The remarkably improved hydrogen storage performance of MgH2 by the synergetic effect of an FeNi/rGO nanocomposite

Magnesium hydride (MgH2) has been considered as a promising hydrogen storage material for buildings that are powered by hydrogen energy, but its practical application is hampered by poor kinetics and unstable thermodynamics. Herein, we describe a feasible method for preparing FeNi nanoparticles dispersed on reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (FeNi/rGO), and we confirmed that excellent catalytic effects increased the hydrogen storage performance of MgH2. 5 wt% FeNi/rGO-modified MgH2 began to release hydrogen at 230 °C and liberated 6.5 wt% H2 within 10 min at 300 °C. As for the hydrogenation process, the dehydrogenated sample absorbed 5.4 wt% H2 within 20 min at 125 °C under a hydrogen pressure of 32 bar. More importantly, a hydrogen capacity of 6.9 wt% was maintained after 50 cycles without compromising the kinetics during each cycle. A unique catalytic mechanism promoted synergetic effects between the in situ-formed Mg2Ni/Mg2NiH4, Fe, and rGO that efficiently promoted hydrogen dissociation and diffusion along the Mg/MgH2 interface, anchored the catalyst, and prevented MgH2 from aggregation and growth.

Implementation of Atomically Thick Graphene and Its Derivatives in Electromagnetic Absorbers

To reduce the radar cross section at microwave frequencies, it is necessary to implement electromagnetic (EM) absorbing devices/materials to decrease the strength of reflected waves. In addition, EM absorbers also find their applications at higher spectrum such as THz and optical frequencies. As an atomic-thick two-dimensional (2D) material, graphene has been widely used in the development of EM devices. The conductivity of graphene can be electrostatically or chemically tuned from microwave to optical light frequencies, enabling the design of reconfigurable graphene EM absorbers. Meanwhile, the derivatives of graphene such as reduced graphene oxide (rGO) also demonstrate excellent wave absorbing properties when mixed with other materials. In this article, the research progress of graphene and its derivatives based EM absorbers are introduced and the future development of graphene EM absorbing devices are also discussed.

Dopamine-derived cavities/Fe3O4 nanoparticles-encapsulated carbonaceous composites with self-generated three-dimensional network structure as an excellent microwave absorber

Dopamine-derived cavities/Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles-encapsulated carbonaceous composites with self-generating three-dimensional (3D) network structure were successfully fabricated by a facile synthetic method, in which sodium alginate provided carbon matrix pores and excellent microwave absorption performance was established. The hollow cavities derived from the core–shell-like CaCO₃@polydopamine were creatively introduced into the 3D absorber to significantly improve the absorption performance. The sample calcined at 700 °C exhibited the most outstanding microwave absorption performance, with minimal reflection loss up to −50.80 dB at 17.52 GHz with a rare thickness of only 1.5 mm when filler loading was 35% in paraffin matrix. The effective absorption bandwidth of reflection loss < −10 dB reached 3.52 GHz from 14.48 GHz to 18 GHz, corresponding to the same thickness of 1.5 mm. In contrast, the sample without hollow dopamine-derived cavities showed poor performance due to poor impedance matching, and this highlights the role of hollow cavities brought into the 3D structure, which led to a difference in interfacial polarization, multiple reflections and scattering. The novel dopamine-derived cavities/Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles-encapsulated carbonaceous composites with 3D network structure can be regarded as a promising candidate for application as a microwave absorber with strong absorption.

Hollow dopamine-derived cavities/Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles-encapsulated carbonaceous composites with self-generating 3D network structure were fabricated for potential application as excellent microwave absorbers.

Gamma Irradiation-Induced Preparation of Graphene⁻Ni Nanocomposites with Efficient Electromagnetic Wave Absorption

A facile and environmentally friendly method is proposed to prepare reduced graphene oxide⁻nickel (RGO⁻Ni) nanocomposites using γ-ray irradiation. Graphene oxide (GO) and Ni2+ are reduced by the electrons which originated from the gamma radiolysis of H₂O. The structure and morphology of the obtained RGO⁻Ni nanocomposites were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. The results show that Ni nanoparticles were dispersed uniformly on the surface of the RGO nanosheets. As expected, the combination of RGO nanosheets and Ni nanoparticles improved the electromagnetic wave absorption because of the better impedance matching. RGO⁻Ni nanocomposites exhibited efficient electromagnetic wave absorption performance. The minimum reflection loss (RL) of RGO⁻Ni reached -24.8 dB, and the highest effective absorption bandwidth was up to 6.9 GHz (RL < -10 dB) with a layer thickness of 9 mm.