The effect of ZnO, Fe3O4 and graphene oxide nanostructures on the microwave absorbing properties of polystyrene composites

In this study a series of polystyrene (PS) nanocomposites such as PS/ZnO, PS/Fe3O4 and PS/graphene oxide nanocomposites were prepared. The novelty of this work is comparing of three various semi-conductor zinc oxide, magnetic Fe3O4 and non-metallic conductive graphene oxide in reflection loss amount. The effect of different percentages of fillers and homogenizer speed on the electromagnetic wave absorption was also investigated. The morphology and particle size of the nanostructures and nanocomposites were examined by scanning electron microscopy. The electromagnetic wave absorption properties of nanocomposites were studied in the frequency range of 5-8 GHz using a vector network analyzer and finally their absorption properties were compared and analyzed. It was found that improving dispersion of nanoparticles resulting from increase in homogenizer speed leads to increase of absorption and band-width. The outcomes show that graphene oxide has substantial effect on absorption in compare with the other nanocomposite samples.