Development of microwave absorbing materials prepared from a polymer binder including Japanese lacquer and epoxy resin

Microwave absorption composites were synthesized from a poly urushiol epoxy resin (PUE) mixed with one of microwave absorbing materials; Ni-Zn ferrite, Soot, Black lead, and carbon nano tube (CNT) to investigate their microwave absorption properties. PUE binders were specially made from Japanese lacquer and epoxy resin, where Japanese lacquer has been traditionally used for bond and paint because it has excellent beauty. Japanese lacquer solidifies with oxygen contained in air's moisture, which has difficulty in making composite, but we improved Japanese lacquer's solidification properties by use of epoxy resin. We made 10 mm thickness composite samples and cut them into toroidal shape to measure permittivity, permeability, and reflection loss in frequencies ranging from 50 Hz to 20 GHz. Electric magnetic absorber's composites synthesized from a PUE binders mixed either with Soot or CNT showed significantly higher wave absorption over -27 dB than the others at frequencies around 18 GHz, although Japanese lacquer itself doesn’t affect absorption. This means Japanese lacquer can be used as binder materials for microwave absorbers.