Hollow carbon microsphere embedded with Fe nanoparticles for broadband microwave absorption.

Nowadays, Fe-based microwave absorption materials still face crucial problems of poor oxidation resistance, lack of dielectric loss and narrow effective absorption bandwidth. In this work, we developed a feasible way of calcining and etching SiO 2 microspheres coated Fe3+ and polydopamine (SiO 2 @Fe3+-PDA) to confine Fe nanoparticles (12 nm) in the hollow carbon microspheres with a thickness of 17 nm, which provides more interfaces and polarization sites to enhance microwave attenuation. With the increase of Fe content, the microwave absorption performance of the sample is gradually improved. When Fe content is 19.7 wt%, the sample has a minimum reflection loss (RL) of −30.9 dB and a broadband absorption bandwidth (RL ≤ −10 dB) of 11.9 GHz (6.1–18 GHz) at the thickness of 4.0 mm. The ultra-wide effective absorption bandwidth is ascribed to synergetic effect of Fe nanoparticles and carbon layer, which provide magnetic loss and dielectric loss, respectively. Moreover, the hollow structure extends the transmission path and induces the multiple scattering of the incident electromagnetic waves. The novel hollow Fe/C microspheres are promising as high-efficiency microwave absorbers with strong microwave absorption and broad absorption bandwidth. [Display omitted] • Hollow Fe/C microspheres are fabricated using SiO 2 @Fe3+-PDA microspheres. • Fe nanoparticles are embedded in 17 nm carbon shell. • An ultra-wide effective absorption bandwidth of 11.9 GHz is obtained. • Fe/C-3 sample exhibits a minimum reflection loss value of −30.1 dB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]