Electromagnetic wave absorption properties of nickel-containing polymer-derived SiCN ceramics

Nickel-containing polymer-derived SiCN ceramics (PDC-SiCN (Ni) ceramics) were prepared with different adding amounts of Ni nanopowders by a polymer-derived method. The compositions, microstructure, electromagnetic (EM) properties and microwave absorption properties of the PDC-SiCN (Ni) ceramics in the 2–18 GHz frequency range were investigated. Results showed that the Ni nanoparticles were distributed in the SiCN amorphous matrix. Moreover, the electromagnetic properties could be tuned by varying the Ni adding amounts. The best absorption properties with a maximum reflection loss (RL) of − 39 dB at 17.2 GHz was obtained in the PDC-SiCN (Ni) ceramics with 10 wt% adding amount and the effective absorption width (RL< −10 dB) was 1.7 GHz with a thickness of 2 mm. Thus the synergetic effect of both the dielectric and magnetic loss endowed the PDC-SiCN (Ni) ceramics with excellent microwave absorption performance.