Three-Dimensional Hierarchical Architecture of the TiO2/Ti3C2Tx/RGO Ternary Composite Aerogel for Enhanced Electromagnetic Wave Absorption

Tunable and high-efficiency electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption materials composed of a three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical reduced graphene oxide (RGO) aerogel network entrapped with TiO2/Ti3C2Tx hybrids were fabricated by a hydrothermal method and a mild chemical reduction treatment. The incorporation of the TiO2/Ti3C2Tx micronanoheterostructure and construction of the 3D well designed hierarchical interconnected network can significantly reduce the agglomeration of RGO sheets together with the beneficial effect of a better impedance match. When the filler loading is 10 wt %, the maximum reflection loss of the composite aerogel reaches up to -65.3 dB with a matching thickness of 2.5 mm. Meanwhile, the effective absorption bandwidth (RL < -10 dB) is 4.3 GHz with the coating thickness of only 2.0 mm, and the tunable absorption bandwidth achieves at 13.74 GHz via modulating the absorber thicknesses in a range from 1.5 to 5.0 mm. The enhanced EMW absorbing performance is closely related to highly porous conductive networks, better impedance match, multiple reflection, and scattering and defective polarization properties. Consequently, these results indicate a promising route to fabricate a lightweight, thin thickness, highly efficient, and broadband EMW absorber, which can facilite the control and purification of the EM environment and realize the sustainable utilization of EMW.