Synthesis of hollow CuFe2O4 microspheres decorated nitrogen-doped graphene hybrid composites for broadband and efficient electromagnetic absorption

The development of graphene-based electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbers with broad bandwidth, strong absorption and low filling ratio remains a big challenge. In this work, hollow copper ferrite microspheres decorated nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide (NRGO/hollow CuFe2O4) hybrid composites were prepared by a two-step route of solvothermal reaction and hydrothermal synthesis. Results of microscopic morphology analysis showed that the NRGO/hollow CuFe2O4 hybrid composites had a special entanglement structure be-tween hollow CuFe2O4 microspheres and wrinkled NRGO. Moreover, the EMW absorption properties of as -prepared hybrid composites could be regulated by changing the additive amounts of hollow CuFe2O4. It was worth noting that when the additive amount of hollow CuFe2O4 was 15.0 mg, the attained hybrid composites showed the optimal EMW absorption performance. The minimum reflection loss reached up to-34.18 dB at a thin matching thickness of 1.98 mm and a low filling ratio of 20.0 wt%, and the corresponding effective ab-sorption bandwidth was as large as 5.92 GHz, covering almost the whole Ku band. Furthermore, when the matching thickness was increased to 3.02 mm, the EMW absorption capacity was significantly enhanced, and the optimal reflection loss value of-58.45 dB was achieved. In addition, the possible EMW absorption mechanisms were proposed. Therefore, the structural design and composition regulation strategy presented in this work would provide a great reference value for the preparation of broadband and efficient graphene-based EMW absorbing materials.