Electronic properties of composite iron (II, III) oxide (Fe3O4) carbonaceous absorber materials by electron spectroscopy

Electronic properties of composite Fe3O4 carbonaceous absorber materials were obtained by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy (REELS), and Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The bandgap of composite was increasing slightly from 2.5 eV for 10% activated carbon (AC) to 2.9 eV for 25% AC. The increase in the band-gap of the composite confirms; the bonding formation by the charge transfer complex between surface hydroxyl groups of Fe3O4 and carbonaceous in the form of AC particle. From the REELS, XPS, and FTIR shows effective orbital hybridization between the 2p(O), pi(C) orbitals of amorphous carbon and 3d (Fe) orbital of Fe3O4 could lead to strong bonding formation of O-C-Fe1-x-O. For all composites shows reflection loss (R) values less than -10 dB can be designed to attenuate EM wave, thus the composites in this study are very promising for new types of EM wave absorptive materials.