Multifunctional Carbon Aerogels Loaded with Pea-Like Coni@Cnts for Outstanding Electromagnetic Wave Absorption Performance

Abstract

Although ordered porous carbon materials (PCMs) have shown promising potential in the field of electromagnetic wave absorption (EWA), it is still a grand challenge to create multifunctional PCMs with outstanding microwave absorption performance. Herein, ordered porous carbon aerogels loaded with pea-pod-like N-doped carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were fabricated via orientation freeze-drying and subsequent high-temperature pyrolysis. The optimized aerogel exhibits extraordinary EWA performance with broad effective absorption bandwidth of 7.68 GHz and exceptionally strong absorption of -91.58 dB at a low filling ratio of only 3 wt%, which is the largest absorption strength among all known aerogels to date. The exceptional EWA performance is attributed to the synergistic effect of abundant loss mechanisms resulting from a unique pod-like structure in ordered porous carbon aerogel wherein nitrogen-doped CNTs encapsulate magnetic alloy nanoparticles. Optimized aerogel exhibits superior compressive elasticity, thermal insulation, and light weight, laying the groundwork for designing practical next-generation EWA materials.

Keywords: Electromagnetic wave absorption, Aerogel, Bacterial cellulose, Carbon nanotube, Thermal insulation