Shape-controlled synthesis of Fe nanostructures and their enhanced microwave absorption properties at L-band

•Fe nanowires were synthesized by chemical reduction method without any surfactants.•Fe nanowires show enhanced microwave-absorbing properties compared to Fe nanosphere.•The maximum RL of Fe nanowires was −32 dB at 1.3 GHz with a thickness of 3.5 mm.•Fe nanowires were believed to be a potential microwave-absorbing material at L-band.

Fe nanostructures with different morphologies were synthesized by the borohydride reduction method without any surfactants. Through simply controlling the reaction temperature, spherical and wire-like iron nanoparticles were obtained, and their crystal phases and morphologies were characterized. The electromagnetic characteristics and microwave absorption properties of Fe nanostructures were investigated. Compared with the Fe nanospheres, the permeability and permittivity of the Fe nanowires were increased dramatically and the ferromagnetic resonance frequency shifts to higher frequency, leading to an amazing enhancement of microwave absorption property. For the Fe nanowires, an optimal reflection loss of −32 dB was obtained at 1.3 GHz with a thinner matching thickness of 3.5 mm and reflection loss exceeding −10 dB were observed in the 0.8–2.1 GHz range for 2–4 mm thickness. This result suggests that the Fe nanowires can be used as a potential microwave-absorbing material at quasimicrowave band (L-band) owing to its excellent microwave properties.

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