Robust and flexible composite aerogel films with porous multilayered structures toward broadband electromagnetic wave absorption

Abstract

Developing flexible electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption materials with excellent mechanical properties has attracted widespread attention to eliminate the ever-growing electromagnetic radiation affecting human health and environmental safety. In this regard, we reported a mechanically robust composite aerogel film with a porous multilayered structure assisted by one-dimensional aramid nanofibers and Ni nanochains, and two-dimensional MXene (Ti₃C₂T_x) nanosheets, which was fabricated via one-step vacuum-assisted filtration and subsequent freeze-drying. Profiting from the effective electric/magnetic cooperative network with multiple conductive pathways as well as porous laminar microstructures, the composite aerogel film simultaneously achieved an excellent tensile strength of 30 MPa and a minimum reflection loss value of −48.6 dB at a thin thickness of 1.5 mm. Impressively, the corresponding effective absorption bandwidth reached 5.8 GHz, almost covering the entire Ku band. Besides, increasing the mass loading of Ni nanochains could endow the as-prepared composite aerogel film with enhanced EMW absorption performances to satisfy the practical requirements for electromagnetic protection applications. In this work, a porous multilayered aerogel film with an electromagnetic synergistic effect is proposed as a promising strategy for designing high-performance EMW absorbers.