Large-Scale Room-Temperature Aqueous Synthesis of Co Superstructures with Controlled Morphology, and Their Application to Electromagnetic Wave Absorption

In this work, we report on the large-scale room-temperature synthesis of Co superstructures using a facile liquid phase reduction method in an aqueous medium. This method yielded pure Co powders within a short period of time without the use of any surfactants. The morphological changes in the Co superstructures could be controlled simply by varying the amounts of reducing agent (hydrazine hydrate). The morphology of the Co powders systematically controlled from aggregated foliage to isolated microfoliage by increasing the hydrazine hydrate addition from 4 ml to 8 ml. The morphology-dependent electromagnetic properties, including the electric permittivity, and magnetic permeability, were investigated over the microwave frequency range, 2-18 GHz. Co isolated microfoliage showed a maximum reflection loss (RL) of-32 dB at 9 GHz with a matching thickness of 2.5 mm, whereas the aggregated foliage Co superstructures displayed a maximum RL of -17 dB at 11 GHz with a matching thickness of 2.5 mm. The stronger absorption for isolated microfoliage was ascribed to a continuous micro networks and vibrating microcurrent dissipation arise from size and shape of the isolated microfoliage. The calculated RL suggested that the as-prepared samples were potential microwave absorption candidates in the X-band region.