Vertical carbon nanotubes arrays with controlled morphology on silicon carbide fibers for electromagnetic wave absorption

Silicon carbide fiber-Carbon nanotubes arrays (SiCf-CNTs) hybrids with controllable morphologies were successfully synthesized by a floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition method (CVD). As the reaction duration prolonged from 2 min to 15 min, the length of CNTs was elongated from 2 mu m to 50 mu m, and moreover the content of CNTs in the hybrids increased from 1.5 wt% to 3.7 wt%. By filling this chopped SiCf-CNTs (20 wt%) hybrids into paraffin, the composite with 3 mm in thickness presented the minimum reflection loss (RLmin = -56.2 dB) and the maximum effective absorption wideband (EAB, RL <= -10 dB) of 4.3 GHz (8.5-12.8 GHz). The dielectric performance of this hybrid synthesized by optimized CNT's length and growth density has presented high potential in the application of electromagnetic wave absorption.