Synthesis of tetragonal copper-nickel ferrite decorated nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide composite as a thin and high-efficiency electromagnetic wave absorber

• Published in: Colloids and surfaces. A, Physicochemical and engineering aspects Physicochemical and engineering aspects, 2022-09, Vol.648, p.129411, Article 129411
• Main Authors: Xu, Jing, Shu, Ruiwen, Shi, Jianjun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Copper-nickel ferrite; Electromagnetic absorption; Nitrogen doping; Reduced graphene oxide; Tetragonal morphology
• ISSN: 0927-7757; 1873-4359
• DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2022.129411

The development of graphene-based magnetic composites with strong absorption, wide bandwidth and thin thickness remains a great challenge. In this work, nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide/copper-nickel ferrite (NRGO/Cu0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4) composite was fabricated via a one-step hydrothermal process. Results demonstrated that the microscopic morphology and electromagnetic (EM) absorbing performance of as-synthesized magnetic composites were greatly influenced by the type and composition of spinel ferrites. Significantly, the attained NRGO/Cu0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4 composite showed a good dispersion of particles, and a large number of tetragonal Cu0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4 nanoparticles were almost homogeneously loaded on the rippled and wrinkled surfaces of lamellar NRGO. Compared with NRGO/CuFe2O4 and NRGO/NiFe2O4 composites, the NRGO/Cu0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4 composite presented the notably enhanced EM absorbing performance. It was noteworthy that the optimal minimum reflection loss reached up to − 67.4 dB and maximum effective absorption bandwidth achieved 4.7 GHz under a very thin matching thickness of 1.7 mm and a filler loading content of 50 wt%. Furthermore, the possible EM dissipation mechanism had been proposed. The results of this work would provide a reference for the development of RGO-based composites as thin and high-performance EM wave absorbers. [Display omitted] •NRGO/Cu0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4 composite was fabricated by a one-step hydrothermal route.•Tetragonal Cu0.5Ni0.5Fe2O4 were uniformly loaded on the wrinkled surfaces of NRGO.•EM absorption was regulated by changing the type and composition of spinel ferrite.•Robust absorption and broad bandwidth under an ultrathin thickness were achieved.•The underlying EM wave absorption mechanism of attained composite was proposed.