Ni2P nanocrystals coated on carbon nanotubes as enhanced lightweight electromagnetic wave absorbers

Abstract Rational microstructure design of carbon based composites is becoming a promising method to reinforce their electromagnetic (EM) wave absorption performance, but their synthesis remains a challenge. Herein, we have reported a design of small-size Ni2P grown on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as lightweight and high efficiency EM wave absorber. The Ni2P NPs can be uniformly grown on CNTs by controlling the nucleation and growth rate of Ni2P during the synthesis. The size and coverage of Ni2P on CNTs can be tuned by adjusting the reaction conditions with a high yield, which is large favorable for adjusting their application performance. The Ni2P/CNTs sample with low filler loading (30 wt%) in the paraffin wax exhibits a good wave absorption performance with the minimum reflection loss (RL mini) value of −51.8 dB at 5.28 GHz. Moreover, it shows a good EM wave absorption ability even at the thinnest thickness of 2 mm (−46.1 dB), and an effective absorption bandwidth of 11.68 GHz is achieved when the absorber thickness is in the range of 1.5–5 mm. The excellent EM wave absorbing performance makes the Ni2P/CNTs as a promising new microwave absorbing material in sustainable filed.