Synthesis of ferromagnetic sandwich FeCo@graphene@PPy and enhanced electromagnetic wave absorption properties

In this work, a ternary sandwich structure of FeCo@RGO@PPy was successfully fabricated by a three-step method. The structure and morphology of samples were characterized by XRD, FTIR, XPS, TEM and FESEM. TEM and FESEM images indicate that FeCo particles with a size of about 20-40 nm are grown on surface of RGO@PPy, between RGO and PPy. VSM results reveal that FeCo@RGO@PPy composite possesses a ferromagnetic behavior, and the electromagnetic wave absorption properties of its were investigated at 2-18 GHz. The maximum reflection loss of ternary composite can reach -40.7 dB at 4.5 GHz and the absorption bandwidth with the reflection loss exceeding -10 dB is 5.7 GHz (3.1-6 GHz and 12.8-15.6 GHz) with the thickness of 2.5 mm, which shows an improved microwave absorption properties compared with FeCo. The microwave absorption mechanisms were also investigated in detail. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.