Highly stretchable and self-foaming polyurethane composite skeleton with thermally tunable microwave absorption properties

Abstract Stretchable and lightweight polymer composite material possessing tunable microwave absorption (MA) properties under thermal radiations remain a significant challenge. Here, we proposed a facile strategy to fabricate stretchable, magnetic composite skeletons by incorporating the tadpole-like CNTs@Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles into self-foaming polyurethane (PU) matrix and the electromagnetic responsive of CNTs@Fe 3 O 4 /PU composite foams with different CNTs contents under heating−cooling cycle in a temperature range of 253 −333 K were carefully investigated. Enhanced complex permittivity and shifting peak frequency were observed at elevated temperatures. For instance, the 70-CNTs@Fe 3 O 4 /PU sample with 15 wt% loading content at 333 K exhibits excellent MA properties including a minimum reflection loss (RL m ) of −66.9 dB and ultrabroad effective frequency bandwidth (RL ≤ −20 dB) of 9.98 GHz at the thickness of 1.58−3.37 mm. Meanwhile, great recoverability in terms of RL- f profile was achieved in the process of thermal cooling back to 253 K. Such adjustable MA property was attributed to the well-matched impedance and dramatic attenuation ability, benefiting from the temperature-dependant electrical conductivity, abundant interfacial polarization and interior microcellular structures. Besides, the rising temperature increased the sample elongation and electrical conductivity with a slight sacrifice of maximum tensile strength. This stretchable PU skeleton with a unique assembly of CNTs and Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles are expected to be promising candidates as smart absorbers for application in the harsh environments.