3D and ternary rGO/MCNTs/Fe3O4 composite hydrogels: Synthesis, characterization and their electromagnetic wave absorption properties

In this paper, we synthesize 3D and ternary composite hydrogels containing reduced graphene oxide, multi-walled carbon nanotubes andd Fe3O4 nanoparticles (rGO/MCNTs/Fe3O4) via hydrothermal process. The fibrous MCNTs are involved in 3D porous network rGO structure, and the 100-200 nm Fe3O4 nanoparticles are uniformly dispersed onto the rGO and MCNTs surface. The rGO/MWCNTs/Fe3O4 composite hydrogels exhibit excellent microwave absorbability. The composite with a coating layer thickness of only 2.0 mm exhibits a maximum absorption value of -36 dB at 13.44 GHz. And the composite hydrogel shows a bandwidth of 11.4 GHz (from frequency of 6.5-17.9 GHz) corresponding to the reflection loss at -10 dB (90% absorption) with a thickness range of 2.0-4.0 mm. Thus, the as-prepared rGO/MCNTs/Fe3O4 composite hydrogels serve as a new member of promising lightweight and high-performance EM wave absorbing materials. The great reason for their excellent microwave absorption properties is also ascribed to the better impedance match. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.