Synthesis of CuS nanoparticles decorated Ti3C2Tx MXene with enhanced microwave absorption performance

MXene, a novel two-dimensional (2D) multi-layer material, has drawn unusual interest as the microwave absorbers for electromagnetic energy attenuation. Synthetic MXene-based heterostructure composites via optimizing structure is an effective strategy to endow MXene materials with high-performance microwave absorption. This study reports the fabrication and investigation of the microwave absorption performance of a sandwich-like CuS/Ti3C2Tx MXene composites prepared by loading CuS nanoparticles onto 2D Ti3C2Tx via a solvothermal method. The morphology and electromagnetic absorption properties of this composite were investigated and the results demonstrated that the CuS/Ti3C2Tx composite with a heterolayered architecture displayed superior microwave absorption ability. With a 35 wt% filler loading in the paraffin matrix, the minimum reflection loss value reached −45.3 dB at a frequency of 7.3 GHz and the effective absorption bandwidth achieved a value as high as 5.2 GHz with a thickness of 2.0 mm. The enhanced microwave absorption performances can be ascribed to the cooperation of the conductive network, interface polarization, dipole polarization, multiple reflection and scattering. Therefore, the synthesized CuS/Ti3C2Tx MXene composites offer an efficient foundation for the design and utilization of other lightweight microwave absorbers.