Compositional and morphological design of heterojunction modified by Schottky junction as highly efficient microwave absorbers.

• Fe/MnO 2 @C composites with unique Schottky heterojunction have been designed by a simple modified arc-discharge method. • Compared to binary composite, ternary Fe/MnO 2 @C composite show attractive advantages in microwave absorption performs. • A maximum reflection loss of − 53.6 dB is observed at 2 mm thickness. And the effective bandwidth reaches 6.35 GHz. The ubiquitous and further deterioration of electromagnetic environment has put forward higher demand for microwave absorption materials with the rapid advancement of 5 G communication and artificial intelligence. Rational manipulation of materials with unique heterojunctions and adjustable electromagnetic properties as lightweight and high-efficiency microwave absorption is the focus and difficulty of research at home and abroad. Schottky junction is designed and fabricated via implanting Fe/MnO 2 nanocrystal confined in carbon matrix, wherein core nanoclusters are tailored. Manganese oxide coupling magnetic metallic iron lamellar nanocrystal benefits the improvement of static magnetization and tuning graphitization degree. The fascinating heterojunction by modifying a Schottky junction can not only enable balance among loss capacity and impedance matching, but also can accelerate the carrier migration and promote abundant interfaces. The efficient microwave absorption is optimized yielding maximum reflection loss of − 53.60 dB and broadening the effective bandwidth of 6.35 GHz. Furthermore, tailoring the morphology of implanted core nanoclusters successfully realizes selective-frequency of microwave absorption. The ternary Fe/MnO 2 @C composite formed by the self-assembly of Fe/MnO 2 nanocrystal core and carbon shell show superior advantages compared to binary composite (e.g., Fe@C, Fe@MnO 2 , MnO 2 @C) in microwave absorption performance. Thus, the performances of appropriately tailored nanoclusters with unique architecture endow optimal synergistic effects between magnetic and dielectric loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]