Synthesis and high-performance microwave absorption of graphene foam/polyaniline nanorods

A novel structure of graphene foam/PANI nanorods (GF/PANI nanorods) were fabricated by a two step method, including synthesize of graphene foam using self-assembly method and in situ polymerization of PANI nanorods on the surface of graphene foam. The structure of GF/PANI nanorods was characterized by FTIR, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, XPS and FESEM. The electromagnetic parameters indicate that GF/PANI nanorods exhibit high-performance microwave absorption properties compared with sole graphene foam. The maximum RL is up to -52.5 dB at 13.8 GHz and the absorption bandwidths exceeding -10 dB are 12.2 GHz with a thickness in the range of 1.5-4 mm. The possible absorption mechanism of GF/PANI nanorods was also investigated in detail. Our results indicate that the deposition of PANI nanorods on graphene foam is an efficient way to synthesize excellent microwave absorbers. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.