Magnetic enhanced high-efficiency electromagnetic wave absorbing MXene/Fe3O4 composite absorbers at 2–40 GHz

Abstract

Electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbing materials are widely used in the communication, aerospace, electronics, and military industries. In this work, MXene composites decorated with Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles on the surface (MF) have been prepared by a one-step method to improve the electromagnetic attenuation performance in the microwave and millimeter-wave frequency bands between 2 and 40 GHz. The interlayers of MXene are distributed with Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles with a size of 20–30 nm, forming a sandwich-like microstructure. The conductive network and the polarizing group have been adjusted by introducing magnetic metal oxides into the accordion-like MXene matrix and the molar ratio of MXene and Fe₃O₄. The minimum reflection loss (RL_min) can be up to −66.25 dB, and the maximum effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) can be up to 8.49 GHz by adjusting the thickness of the absorber. The synergistic effects and structural advantages of Fe₃O₄ (magnetic loss) and MXene (dielectric loss), as well as the multiple reflections because of the sandwich-like structure, make MXene/Fe₃O₄ composites show superior EMW absorption performance in microwave and millimeter wave frequency bands. We anticipate that this work may enrich the survey of MXene/metal oxide absorbers.