Morphology-control synthesis of polyaniline decorative porous carbon with remarkable electromagnetic wave absorption capabilities

Porous carbon materials have been widely reported on dealing with the electromagnetic (EM) wave interference. However, monotonous EM loss mechanism still performed an obstacle to achieve exceptional absorption. In this paper, a series of three-dimensional porous carbon.@PANI (polyaniline) composites were synthesized via facile roasting and subsequent coating process. The morphology, nanostructure and EM wave absorption properties of porous carbon@PANI (PC@PANI) were discussed in detail. Obviously, porous carbon derived from EDTA-2Na coated by PANI (PC@PANI-2) composites exhibited significantly enhanced EM wave absorption performance compared to pure porous carbon. The widest absorption bandwidth (RL < 10 dB) of the PC@PANI-2 could reach to 6.64 GHz (10.16-16.8 GHz) at 2.6 mm, and the minimum reflection loss (RLmin) at 2.6 mm was-72.16 dB. Compared with pure porous carbon materials, the composite material shows improved dielectric loss, such as interface polarization loss. After the polyaniline is coated, the conductivity loss of the composite material is sharply increased, so that the EM wave absorption capacity of the material is enhanced. The synthesized PC@PANI-2 can be used as the first choice for low-cost and environmentally friendly EM absorbers. In addition, this work can provide a reference for enriching the electromagnetic loss mechanism of the absorber.

Automated summary

Porous carbon@polyaniline composites were synthesized and found to exhibit significantly enhanced electromagnetic wave absorption performance. This research provides a new option for low-cost, environmentally friendly electromagnetic absorbers and enriches the understanding of the electromagnetic loss mechanism of absorbers.