Synthesis and characterization of γ-Fe2O3@C nanorod-carbon sphere composite and its application as microwave absorbing material

Core-shell structured gamma-Fe2O3@C nanorod-carbon sphere composites have been synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method employing FeCl3 center dot 6H(2)O as the iron source and D-glucose as the carbon source. The coreeshell structured gamma-Fe2O3@C nanorods possess a uniform size with similar to 500-800 nm in length, the carbon shell's thickness is similar to 3-10 nm, and the gamma-Fe2O3 core is homogeneously coated by amorphous carbon layer. The measured electromagnetic (EM) parameters show that its maximum reflection loss (RL) can reach 8.11 dB at 3.92 GHz. This is mainly attributed to the multiple-interfacial polarization among the coreeshell structured gamma-Fe2O3@C nanorod-carbon sphere composites. The coreeshell structured gamma-Fe2O3@C nanorod-carbon sphere composites can be a promising candidate for lightweight microwave materials. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.