Ni/SiC fibers with low oxygen content and efficient electromagnetic wave absorption capability

Abstract The practical application temperature of SiC fibers is constrained by their high oxygen content. Furthermore, their electromagnetic absorption performance is compromised by limited loss mechanisms and insufficient attenuation capabilities. These factors collectively hinder the potential of SiC fibers as high‐performance electromagnetic absorption materials. In this work, SiC fibers doped with nickel were successfully prepared through electrospinning and heat treatment. The experimental results demonstrate that nickel doping not only catalyzes the decomposition of the metastable SiO x C y phase in the composite fibers, reducing the oxygen content to below 6.2%, but also catalyzes the formation of a large amount of turbostratic carbon during the pyrolysis of the precursor polymer, endowing the Ni/SiC composite fibers with high dielectric loss capability and excellent wave absorption performance. For the Ni/SiC‐1 composite fiber absorber with a thickness of 2.5 mm, the maximum effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) can reach 6.7 GHz; for the Ni/SiC‐3 composite fiber absorber with a thickness of 3 mm, the minimum reflection loss (RL) value reaches ‐49.5 dB at 9 GHz. Moreover, Ni/SiC fibers possess outstanding flexibility and ultra‐low density, making them an ideal choice as efficient electromagnetic wave absorbing materials under special conditions.