Preparation of titanium carbide nanowires for application in electromagnetic wave absorption

TiC nanowires were synthesized by chloride-assisted carbothermal reaction, using sucrose, TiO2 and NaCl as precursors and Ni(NO3)2·6H2O as a catalyst. The TiC nanowires have specific surface areas of 186.7 m2 g−1 with a diameter of 200–400 nm and length of dozens micrometers. The hybrids of TiC nanowires/paraffin exhibited distinct electromagnetic wave absorbing ability in X-band (8.2–12.4 GHz). The optimal reflection loss (RL) of −51 dB at 11.8 GHz and the bandwidth of 3.0 GHz (RL < −10 dB) was achieved when the thickness is 1.7 mm. The optimal reflection loss and matching thickness were determined by the impedance match and quarter-wavelength law.