Enhanced microwave absorption in Fe3O4@PS/MWCNT multicomponent composites: Fabrication, characterization, and performance analysis

Multiple-component materials with advanced microstructure are increasingly utilized in the development of microwave absorption materials. In this paper, a magnetic hollow sphere composed of Fe3O4@PS was fabricated by simply depositing Fe3O4 nanoparticles onto the surface-modified PS hollow spheres through electrostatic interactions. The microwave absorption properties of Fe3O4 @PS hollow spheres were studied by varying the loading capacity of Fe3O4. The results show that when the Fe3O4 content is 28.59 wt%, the optimal minimum reflection loss is -26.9 dB with effective absorption bandwidths (RL <= -10 dB) exceeding 0.3 GHz. Furthermore, the straightforward combination of the Fe3O4@PS with MWCNTs enables the enhancement of the microwave absorption up to -41.4 dB at 14.5 GHz, with an effective absorption bandwidth exceeding 5.9 GHz (12.1-18 GHz) at a thickness of 2 mm. This study is expected to provide valuable insights into the design of nanocomposites for microwave absorption applications.