Three-dimensional architecture of absorbers for enhancement of the absorbing properties of MWNTs

The microwave absorbers, which can attenuate and dissipate the incident electromagnetic wave, have attracted much more attentions due to their great potential applications in military stealth and civil healthcare. In this study, the three-dimensional (3D) architecture absorber of multiwalled carbon nanotubes@polystyrene (MWNTs@PS) was designed and synthesized by the combination of PS microspheres with MWNTs via self-assembly of electrostatic adsorption. The morphology and dispersity of absorbers were characterized via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The aim of this study is to explore the influence of the 3D architecture of absorbers on the enhanced absorbing performance of MWNTs. The results of SEM and TEM demonstrated that 3D architecture constructed via MWNTs attaching on the surface of PS microspheres were established, which is in favor for MWNTs to build more electron transportation pathways and enhance the multiinterface polarization. Compared with one-dimensional (1D) absorbers of PS/MWNTs, the 3D MWNTs@PS exhibited excellent absorbing properties, the maximum reflection loss (RL) was -34.2dB at 10.6GHz with a thickness of 2.00mm and the frequency bandwidth of RL below -10dB (90% absorption) was 3.0GHz. In contrast, the maximum RL of 1D PS/MWNTs and pristine MWNTs were -19.1dB at 11.5GHz and -7.7dB at 8.8GHz, respectively. The results implied that the construction of 3D architecture has crucial influence on the enhanced absorbing performance of MWNTs. (c) 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47566.