Facile preparation and microwave absorption properties of RGO/MWCNTs/ZnFe2O4 hybrid nanocomposites

In this work, hybrid nanocomposites of reduced graphene oxide/multi-walled carbon nanotubes/zinc ferrite (RGO/MWCNTs/ZnFe2O4) were fabricated by a facile one-pot hydrothermal strategy. Effect of the mass ratio of GO to MWCNTs on the structure, morphology, magnetic properties and microwave absorption properties of the as-prepared hybrid nanocomposites was investigated in detail. Results demonstrated that the surface of MWCNTs were loaded with ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles and interlinked with RGO, which constructed the three-dimensional (3D) conductive networks in the ternary nanocomposites. Moreover, the ternary nanocomposites exhibited enhanced microwave absorption with the minimum reflection loss of -23.8 dB and effective absorption bandwidth (less than -10 dB) of 2.6 GHz. Significantly, the dual-waveband absorption characteristics covering the C and Ku bands were observed. Therefore, the obtained hybrid nanocomposites were potential candidates for application in the field of microwave absorption. (c) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.