Three-dimensional architectures assembled with branched metal nanoparticle-encapsulated nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube arrays for absorption of electromagnetic wave

Three-dimensional magnetic metal nanoparticle-encapsulated nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube arrays (3D M@NCNTS) are fabricated through a facile method. The unique 3D architectures have abundant defects, various N dopants, numerous interfaces, and void spaces. Benefitting from the advantages above, our designed 3D M@NCNTSs exhibit excellent electromagnetic wave absorption properties including strong attenuation abilities, thin thickness of absorber film, and low filler mass loading, superior to most of reported magnetic metal-based absorbers. Typically, the minimal reflection loss of the optimized 3D architecture is - 49.82 dB at a frequency of 7.92 GHz, and efficient absorption bandwidth is 4 GHz as the thickness of the absorber film is merely 2 mm. Furthermore, we also find that the dielectric losses of the 3D architectures can be tuned by the metal composition. Thus, the controllable electromagnetic wave absorption properties can be achieved. Our strategy here may be extended to synthesize other types of 3D architectures as high-performance electromagnetic wave absorbers. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.