Two-dimensional materials: Emerging toolkit for construction of ultrathin high-efficiency microwave shield and absorber

Two-dimensional (2D) materials generally have unusual physical and chemical properties owing to the confined electro-strong interaction in a plane and can exhibit obvious anisotropy and a significant quantum-confinement effect, thus showing great promise in many fields. Some 2D materials, such as graphene and MXenes, have recently exhibited extraordinary electromagnetic-wave shielding and absorbing performance, which is attributed to their special electrical behavior, large specific surface area, and low mass density. Compared with traditional microwave attenuating materials, 2D materials have several obvious inherent advantages. First, similar to other nanomaterials, 2D materials have a very large specific surface area and can provide numerous interfaces for the enhanced interfacial polarization as well as the reflection and scattering of electromagnetic waves. Second, 2D materials have a particular 2D morphology with ultrasmall thickness, which is not only beneficial for the penetration and dissipation of electromagnetic waves through the 2D nanosheets, giving rise to multiple reflections and the dissipation of electromagnetic energy, but is also conducive to the design and fabrication of various well-defined structures, such as layer-by-layer assemblies, core–shell particles, and porous foam, for broadband attenuation of electromagnetic waves. Third, owing to their good processability, 2D materials can be integrated into various multifunctional composites for multimode attenuation of electromagnetic energy. In addition to behaving as microwave reflectors and absorbers, 2D materials can act as impedance regulators and provide structural support for good impedance matching and setup of the optimal structure. Numerous studies indicate that 2D materials are among the most promising microwave attenuation materials. In view of the rapid development and enormous advancement of 2D materials in shielding and absorbing electromagnetic wave, there is a strong need to summarize the recent research results in this field for presenting a comprehensive view and providing helpful suggestions for future development.