Laser-induced self-propagating synthesis of Al3BC3 powder for high-temperature electromagnetic wave absorption

Electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbing materials play an increasingly crucial role in mitigating electromagnetic pollution. In this study, the laser-induced self-propagating synthesis (LSS) method was employed to successfully produce Al3BC3 powders with a purity of up to 98.8 wt.% using aluminum powder, boron carbide powder, and carbon powder as raw materials. The preparation efficiency was increased by approximately 20-360 times compared to conventional heating methods. Additionally, the as-synthesized Al3BC3 powder exhibited remarkable oxidation resistance, with an apparent oxidation activation energy (E) of 213.04 kJ/mol and a preexponential factor of 5.38. Moreover, the powder demonstrated superior EMW absorption performance at 973 K, with a reflection loss below -10 dB within the frequency range of 6.74-7.97 GHz and a minimum reflection loss reaching -45.86 dB at a thickness of 2.9 mm. These results suggest that the as-synthesized Al3BC3 powder is a promising candidates for high-temperature EMW absorption applications.