Tailoring Microwave Electromagnetic Responses in Ti3C2Tx MXene with Fe3O4 Nanoparticle Decoration via a Solvothermal Method

Electromagnetic interference originated from communication equipment and portable electronic devices and has become a potential threat to human health and the environment. In this experiment, we successfully prepared a novel two-dimensional (2D) Ti3C2Tx/Fe3O4 nanoparticle composite with a simple solvothermal reaction. The magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles are homogeneously distributed on both the surface and interlayers of Ti3C2Tx forming a typical hierarchical structure. The dielectric loss of the as-synthesized 2D nanocomposites can be attributed to the strong magnetic loss caused by Fe3O4 nanoparticles as well as the conductive loss originated from Ti3C2 MXene. The achieved excellent electromagnetic wave absorption performance was -50.18 dB at 10.18 GHz with an absorber thickness of only 1.7 mm. Meanwhile, the effective absorption bandwidth of the composite with 30 wt % Fe3O4 loading reached at 3.2 GHz (1.3 mm). We believe that the outstanding microwave absorption performance of Ti3C2Tx/Fe3O4 composites with the wide-band and thin- thickness characteristics will provide a strategy to design microwave absorbers.

Automated summary

A novel two-dimensional Ti3C2Tx/Fe3O4 nanoparticle composite was successfully prepared with excellent electromagnetic wave absorption performance, providing a strategy for designing microwave absorbers.