Enhanced microwave absorption performance of FeAl flakes by optimizing the carbon nanotube coatings

• Published in: RSC advances 2024-04, Vol.14 (15), p.1687-1696
• Main Authors: Luo, Xixi, Xie, Hui, Cao, Jing, Lu, Yaru, Tao, Shiping, Meng, Zhixing, Pu, Lingna, Sun, Liyang, He, Pengjia, Liu, Ziyan
• Format: Article
• ISSN: 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/d4ra00955j

Fe 3 Al is a good magnetic loss absorber for microwave absorption. However, due to the relatively high density and poor impedance matching ratio, the potential of Fe 3 Al cannot be fully released. Herein, a dielectric loss absorber of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is coupled with Fe 3 Al to form Fe 3 Al/CNTs composite absorbers. CNTs are randomly tangled and coated on the surface of the Fe 3 Al flakes, forming a connecting conductive network. By carefully tuning the content of CNTs, the optimized Fe 3 Al/CNTs composite absorber with 1.5% of CNTs can combine both magnetic loss and dielectric loss mechanisms, thus achieving an impedance matching ratio close to 1 while keeping strong attenuation for enhanced microwave absorption. As a result, an effective absorption bandwidth (RL ≤ −10 dB) of 4.73 GHz at a thickness of 2 mm is achieved. Fe 3 Al is a good magnetic loss absorber for microwave absorption.