Electromagnetic and microwave absorbing properties of multi-walled carbon nanotubes filled with Ag nanowires

The multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were filled with long continuous Ag nanowires via a wet chemical method. The diameters of Ag nanowires were in the range of 10-20nm, and lengths of 100-1500nm. Microwave absorption and complex permittivity and permeability of MWNTs filled with Ag nanowires have been investigated in the range of 2-18 GHz, respectively. The reflection loss of the Ag nanowire filled MWNT/epoxy composites with the thickness of 1.0 +/- 0.1 mm is below -10 dB in the range of 7.2-9.0 GHz, and the minimum value is -19.19 dB at 7.8 GHz. The microwave absorption of Ag nanowire filled MWNT/epoxy composites can be mainly attributed to the dielectric loss rather than magnetic loss. The absorption peak frequency of the MWNT/epoxy composites with thickness of I mm can be tuned by filling Ag nanowire into MWNTs. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.