Investigation of the microwave-absorbing properties of Fe-filled carbon nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes encapsulated Fe nanowire composites were synthesized via pyrolyzing of ferrocene. The reflection loss (R.L.), matching frequency (fm) and matching thickness (dm) were calculated using the theory of the absorbing wall. The electromagnetic properties and microwave-absorbing characteristic effects by the encapsulation of metal Fe were investigated in a frequency range of 8–18 GHz. With matching thickness of 3.5 mm, the maximum reflection loss is about − 22.73 dB for the absorber. The bandwidth corresponding to the reflection loss below − 10 dB is more than 4.22 GHz. With increasing thickness, the peak value of the reflection loss shifts to a lower frequency.