Hydrothermal synthesis of carbonyl iron-carbon nanocomposite: Characterization and electromagnetic performance

Abstract

In this research, the electromagnetic absorption properties of the carbonyl iron-carbon (CI/C) nanocomposite prepared via hydrothermal reaction using glucose as carbon precursor was studied in the range of 8.2–12.4 GHz. In hydrothermal reaction, glucose solution containing CI particles, placed in autoclave for 4 h under 453 K. Using surface coating technology is a method that prevents Cl oxidation and improves CI electromagnetic absorption. The structure, morphology and magnetic performances of the prepared nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The electromagnetic properties including complex permittivity (εr), the permeability (µr), dielectric loss, magnetic loss, reflection loss, and attenuation constant were investigated using a vector network analyzer. For The CI/C nanocomposite, the bandwidth of −10 dB and −20 dB were obtained in the frequency range of 9.8–12.4 and 11.0–11.8 GHz, respectively. As well as, the reflection loss was −46.69 dB at the matching frequency of 11.5 GHz, when the matching thickness was 1.3 mm. While for CI particles the reflection loss for 4.4 mm thickness was −16.86 dB at the matching frequency of 12.3 GHz. The results indicate that the existence layer of carbon on carbonyl iron enhance the electromagnetic absorbing properties. Therefore, this nanocomposite can be suitable for in the radar absorbing coatings. Keywords: Hydrothermal synthesis, Carbonyl iron-carbon nanocomposite, Microwave absorption, Reflection loss