Magneto-dielectric synergy: one-pot synthesis of Fe3O4 nanoparticle-decorated graphene oxide for high performance electromagnetic wave absorption

Abstract

With the rapid development of electronic devices and radar detection technology, there is an urgent need to develop highly efficient electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption materials with a wide absorption bandwidth. Although graphene oxide (GO) has garnered significant attention in the field of EMW absorption due to its tunable dielectric properties, its high dielectric constant often leads to poor impedance matching and a single loss mechanism, making it difficult to achieve efficient EMW absorption. In this work, magnetic GO nanocomposites (Fe₃O₄@GO) were synthesized using a simple “one-pot method”. As expected, by adjusting the ratio of GO and Fe₃O₄, excellent electromagnetic wave absorption properties were achieved. It is worth noting that the minimum reflection loss of Fe₃O₄@GO70 at 8.28 GHz was −58.37 dB, corresponding to a thickness of 3.1 mm, while the effective absorption bandwidth at a thickness of 1.8 mm was 5.13 GHz (12.87–18 GHz). Additionally, the radar cross section (RCS) of Fe₃O₄@GO70 remained below −16.06 dB m² across the entire −90° to 90° range, with a minimum RCS value of −29.04 dB m² at 10°. Furthermore, the significant attenuation of electromagnetic waves is attributed to the synergistic effects of improved impedance matching, dielectric loss, and magnetic loss. Therefore, Fe₃O₄@GO composite materials show great potential as a high-performance electromagnetic wave absorber, and their simple preparation process makes them highly promising for scalable production.