Synthesis and microwave absorption characteristics of BaFe12O19/BaTiO3/ MWCNT/polypyrrole quaternary composite

In this research, microwave absorption properties of the barium hexaferrite (BaM)/ barium titanate (BT)/ multi wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) / polypyrrole (PPy) quaternary composite were investigated. The barium hexaferrite and barium titanate powders were fabricated through co-precipitation and hydrothermal methods, respectively. Polypyrrole was synthesized through in-situ polymerization in the presence of either one of MWCNTs, BT and BaM phases or all of them. Microstructural, magnetic and microwave absorption properties of the prepared composites were investigated. The XRD and FTIR results revealed a successful preparation of the composites. The obtained composites were mixed with polyurethane resin in a mass ratio of 1:4 for microwave absorption studies. The microwave absorption properties of the samples were investigated by the network analyzer. The amounts of minimum reflection loss (RL) obtained for BT/BaM/CNT@PPy, BT@PPy/BaM/CNT and BT/BaM@PPy/CNT samples with the thickness of 3.5 mm were 3.7, 5, and 5.68 dB, respectively while for the sample in which all three components of BaM, BT, and MWCNT were coated by polypyrrole, RL obtained about 6.88 dB at 9 GHz. The results indicated that the in-situ synthesis of polypyrrole in the presence of all composite components led to a conductive network with the improved dielectric and magnetic properties as well as a better impedance matching conditions providing a higher absorption performance.

Automated summary

By synthesizing polypyrrole in the quaternary composite, higher microwave absorption performance was achieved, demonstrating a conductive network with improved dielectric and magnetic properties as well as better impedance matching conditions.