Study on FDM preparation and properties of RGO/Ni/PLA/TPU composite materials

In the design of electromagnetic wave absorbing materials, achieving the characteristics of "broadband, lightweight, thin thickness, high-strength" is a huge challenge. Graphene has a large specific surface area and strong dielectric properties, making it an important material for preparing lightweight absorbing materials. Due to the unique multi-layer structure of graphene, the reflection and scattering paths of electromagnetic waves are increased, enriching the loss mechanism. In this work, RGO/Ni/PLA/TPU composite materials were prepared by fused deposition modeling (FDM) using PLA/TPU as the matrix, and the effects of different RGO contents on the microwave absorption performance of Ni/PLA/TPU were studied. The results indicate that as the RGO content increases, the absorption performance gradually enhances, while the mechanical properties gradually decrease. When the RGO content is 5%, it has a broadband absorption characteristic of 6.96 GHz at a thickness of 2 mm and a strong absorption characteristic of -52.10 dB at a thickness of 2.7 mm. More importantly, when the thickness is within the adjustable range of 2-4 mm, the absorption of electromagnetic waves can cover 5.02-18 GHz. In addition, composite materials have certain mechanical properties, with the highest tensile strength and elongation at break reaching 19.8 MPa and 6.6%, respectively. Therefore, the composite material has certain mechanical properties on the basis of good absorption performance, which is of great significance for the preparation of complex and efficient absorption devices.