3D carbon network supported porous SiOC ceramics with enhanced microwave absorption properties

Porous SiOC ceramic was successfully prepared by pyrolysis of dimethylsilicone oil, silane coupling agent and melamine foam. The microwave absorbing properties of porous SiOC were studied for the first time. At the matching layer thickness of 3.0 mm, the paraffin-based composite with porous SiOC displays a minimum reflection coefficient (RC) of −39.13 dB (11.76 GHz) and an effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 4.64 GHz which are much larger than that of paraffin-based composite with ordinary SiOC. It is found that the porous structure of SiOC is crucial to achieve its high microwave absorption performance by improving both the polarization loss and conduction loss. The enhanced polarization loss is originated from the dipole polarization and interfacial polarization, while the improvement of conduction loss is attributed to the carbon skeleton of porous SiOC. These results indicate that porous SiOC ceramic is a promising candidate for high-performance ceramic-based microwave absorbing materials.