Hualiang Lv

Porous Three-Dimensional Flower-like Co/CoO and Its Excellent Electromagnetic Absorption Properties

The porous three-dimensional (3-D) flower structures assembled by numerous ultrathin flakes were favor for strengthen electromagnetic absorption capability. However, it still remains a big challenge to fabricate such kind of materials. In this study, an easy and flexible two-step method consisting of hydrothermal and subsequent annealing process have been developed to synthesize the porous 3-D flower-like Co/CoO. Interestingly, we found that the suitable heat treatment temperature played a vital role on the flower-like structure, composition, and electromagnetic absorption properties. In detail, only in the composite treated with 400 °C can we gain the porous 3-D flower structure. If the annealing temperature were heated to 300 °C, the Co element was unable to generate. Moreover, when the annealing temperature increased from 400 to 500 °C, these flower-like structures were unable to be kept because the enlarged porous diameter would wreck the flower frame. Moreover, these 3-D porous flower-like structures presented outstanding electromagnetic absorption properties. For example, such special structure enabled an optimal reflection loss value of -50 dB with the frequency bandwidth ranged from 13.8 to 18 GHz. The excellent microwave absorption performance may attribute to the high impedance matching behavior and novel dielectric loss ability. Additionally, it can be supposed that this micrometer-size flower structure was more beneficial to scatter the incident electromagnetic wave. Meanwhile, the rough surface of the ultrathin flake is apt to increase the electromagnetic scattering among the leaves of the flower due to their large spacing and porous features.

Coin-like α-Fe2O3@CoFe2O4 Core–Shell Composites with Excellent Electromagnetic Absorption Performance

In this paper, we designed a novel core-shell composite for microwave absorption application in which the α-Fe2O3 and the porous CoFe2O4 nanospheres served as the core and shell, respectively. Interestingly, during the solvothermal process, the solvent ratio (V) of PEG-200 to distilled water played a key role in the morphology of α-Fe2O3 for which irregular flake, coin-like, and thinner coin-like forms of α-Fe2O3 can be produced with the ratios of 1:7, 1:3, and 1:1, respectively. The porous 70 nm diameter CoFe2O4 nanospheres were generated as the shell of α-Fe2O3. It should be noted that the CoFe2O4 coating layer did not damage the original shape of α-Fe2O3. As compared with the uncoated α-Fe2O3, the Fe2O3@CoFe2O4 composites exhibited improved microwave absorption performance over the tested frequency range (2-18 GHz). In particular, the optimal reflection loss value of the flake-like composite can reach -60 dB at 16.5 GHz with a thin coating thickness of 2 mm. Furthermore, the frequency bandwidth corresponding to the RLmin value below -10 dB was up to 5 GHz (13-18 GHz). The enhanced microwave absorption properties of these composites may originate from the strong electron polarization effect (i.e., the electron polarization between Fe and Co) and the electromagnetic wave scattering on this special porous core-shell structure. In addition, the synergy effect between α-Fe2O3 and CoFe2O4 also favored balancing the electromagnetic parameters. Our results provided a promising approach for preparing an absorbent with good absorption intensity and a broad frequency that was lightweight.

Interface Polarization Strategy to Solve Electromagnetic Wave Interference Issue

Design of an interface to arouse interface polarization is an efficient route to attenuate high-frequency electromagnetic waves. The attenuation intensity is highly related to the contact area. To achieve stronger interface polarization, growing metal oxide granular film on graphene with a larger surface area seems to be an efficient strategy due to the high charge carrier concentration of graphene. This study is devoted to fabricating the filmlike composite by a facile thermal decomposition method and investigating the relationship among contact area, polarization intensity, and the type of metal oxide. Because of the high-frequency polarization effect, the composites presented excellent electromagnetic wave attenuation ability. It is shown that the optimal effective frequency bandwidth of graphene/metal oxide was close to 7.0 GHz at a thin coating layer of 2.0 mm. The corresponding reflection loss value was nearly -22.1 dB. Considering the attenuation mechanism, interface polarization may play a key role in the microwave-absorbing ability.

A brief introduction to the fabrication and synthesis of graphene based composites for the realization of electromagnetic absorbing materials

Owing to the fast development of wireless information technologies at the high-frequency range, the electromagnetic interference problem has been of increasing significance and attracting global attention. One key solution for this problem is to develop materials that are able to attenuate the unwanted electromagnetic waves. The desired properties of these materials include low reflection loss value, wide attenuation band, light weight, and low cost. This review gives a brief introduction to graphene-based composites and their electromagnetic absorption properties. The ultimate goal of these graphene absorbers is to achieve a broader effective absorption frequency bandwidth (fE) at a thin coating thickness (d). Representative and popular composite designs, synthesis methods, and electromagnetic energy attenuation mechanisms are summarized in detail. The two key factors, impedance matching behavior and attenuation ability, that determine the electromagnetic behavior of graphene-based materials are given particular attention in this article.

Achieving excellent bandwidth absorption by a mirror growth process of magnetic porous polyhedron structures

A symmetrical Fe2O3/BaCO3 hexagonal cone structure having a height of 10 μm and an edge length of ~4 μm is reported, obtained using a common solvothermal process and a mirror growth process. Focused ion beam and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy techniques revealed that α-Fe2O3 was the single crystal feature present. Ba ions contributed to the formation of symmetrical structures exhibited in the final composites. Subsequently, porous magnetic symmetric hexagonal cone structures were used to study the observed intense electromagnetic wave interference. Electromagnetic absorption performance studies at 2–18 GHz indicated stronger attenuation electromagnetic wave ability as compared to other shapes such as spindles, spheres, cubes, and rods. The maximum absorption frequency bandwidth was at 7.2 GHz with a coating thickness d = 1.5 mm. Special structures and the absence of BaCO3 likely played a vital role in the excellent electromagnetic absorption properties described in this research.

CoxFey@C Composites with Tunable Atomic Ratios for Excellent Electromagnetic Absorption Properties.

The shell on the nano-magnetic absorber can prevent oxidation, which is very important for its practical utilization. Generally, the nonmagnetic shell will decrease the integral magnetic loss and thus weaken the electromagnetic absorption. However, maintaining the original absorption properties of the magnetic core is a major challenge. Here, we designed novel and facile CoxFey@C composites by reducing CoxFe3−xO4@phenolic resin (x = 1, 0.5 and 0.25). High saturation magnetization value (Ms) of CoxFey particle, as a core, shows the interesting magnetic loss ability. Meanwhile, the carbon shell may increase the integral dielectric loss. The resulting composite shows excellent electromagnetic absorption properties. For example, at a coating thickness of 2 mm, the RLmin value can reach to −23 dB with an effective frequency range of 7 GHz (11–18 GHz). The mechanisms of the improved microwave absorption properties are discussed.

Facile Synthesis and Hierarchical Assembly of Flowerlike NiO Structures with Enhanced Dielectric and Microwave Absorption Properties

In this work, two novel flowerlike NiO hierarchical structures, rose-flower (S1) and silk-flower (S2), were synthesized by using a facial hydrothermal method, coupled with subsequent postannealing process. Structures, morphologies, and magnetic and electromagnetic properties of two NiO structures have been systematically investigated. SEM and TEM results suggested that S1 had a hierarchical rose-flower architecture with diameters in the range of 4-7 μm, whereas S2 exhibited a porous silk-flower architecture with diameters of 0.7-1.0 μm. Electromagnetic performances indicated that the NiO hierarchical structures played a crucial role in determining their dielectric behavior and impedance matching characteristic, which further influenced the microwave attenuation property of absorbers based on them. Due to its hierarchical and porous architectures, S2 had higher microwave absorption performances than S1. The maximum RL value for sample S2 can reach -65.1 dB at 13.9 GHz, while an efficient bandwidth of 3 GHz was obtained. In addition, the mechanism of the improved microwave absorption were discussed in detail. It is expected that our NiO hierarchical structures synthesized in this work could be used as a reference to design novel microwave absorption materials.