3D flower-branch hierarchical carbon nanofiber/ZnO/TiO2/Ti3C2Tx composites for dramatically enhanced electromagnetic absorbing properties

Series of carbon nanofibers/ZnO/TiO2/Ti(3)C(2)Tx composites with 3D flower-branch hierarchical architecture were prepared by a hydrothermal method coupled with electrospinning technique, and used in the field of electromagnetic wave absorption (EWA). The special morphology was formed due to the crystal growth characteristics, in situ oxidation and the interaction of functional groups, which can greatly enhance the interface stability for the co-growth. The morphology, chemical composition, and electromagnetic parameters were characterized, and then the evaluation results of EWA capacity of the materials were obtained. The reasons for the different EWA properties of the series of composites were discussed in detail from aspect of EWA mechanism. Benefitting from the synergistic effect of component design and the unique hierarchical architectures, the composites exhibited dramatically enhanced EWA performance. Especially, the RLmin of ZTC5 reached to -39.6 dB at a thickness of 3.0 mm and the widest effective bandwidth was 6.1 GHz at a thickness of only 2.0 mm. For ZTC16, the RLmin can reach up to -42.48 dB at a thickness of 5.0 mm and its widest effective bandwidth was 2.17 GHz at a thickness of 2.5 mm. Due to the wide EWA bandwidth, thin thickness, and strong absorption capacity, this kind of 3D flowerbranch hierarchical material had great potentials in EWA field.

Automated summary

This study focuses on the preparation and characterization of a series of carbon nanofibers/ZnO/TiO2/Ti(3)C(2)Tx composites with flower-branch hierarchical architecture for electromagnetic wave absorption. The composites showed enhanced absorption performance due to their unique morphology and component design.