Preparation and electromagnetic wave absorption properties of carbon nanotubes loaded Fe3O4 composites

Abstract Carbon nanotubes loaded Fe3O4 (CNTs-loaded Fe3O4) composites synthesized via a common chemical vapor deposition method showed excellent electromagnetic wave absorption performance. The effect of different Fe3O4 content on the electromagnetic parameters and wave absorption properties of the CNTs-loaded Fe3O4 composites was investigated. The results indicated that the CNTs-loaded Fe3O4 composites with the content of 42.4% Fe3O4 exhibited the best absorption property among the as-synthesized CNTs-loaded Fe3O4 composites. The minimum RL value reached −35.9 dB at 7.12 GHz with a thickness of 3 mm. More significantly, the effective bandwidth less than −10 dB was 4.32 GHz with a thickness of 1.5 mm. Compared with pure CNTs or Fe3O4, the impedance matching of CNTs-loaded Fe3O4 composites is markedly improved. The absorbing mechanism is mainly due to the synergistic effect of improved impedance matching, interface scattering, dielectric loss and magnetic loss. CNTs-loaded Fe3O4 composites with excellent electromagnetic wave absorption performance contribute to the development of light and highly efficient electromagnetic wave absorbing materials.