Enhanced microwave absorption properties of Ni-doped ordered mesoporous carbon/polyaniline nanocomposites

We propose and demonstrate a new scheme to improve microwave absorption property through polyaniline (PANI)-functionalized Ni-doped ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) by in situ polymerization method. The polymer-functionalized nanocomposites, embedding polyaniline within ordered mesoporous carbon, exhibit strong and broadband microwave absorption due to its better dielectric loss characteristic. OMC-Ni0.15/PANI exhibits an effective absorption bandwidth (i.e., reflection loss (RL) ≤ −10 dB) of 4.7 GHz and an absorption peak of −51 dB at 9.0 GHz. The absorption peak intensity and position can be tuned by controlling the thickness of the coating.

► OMC-Ni/PANI nanocomposites were prepared by in situ polymerization method. ► The effective absorption bandwidth was 4.7 GHz for OMC-Ni0.15/PANI. ► OMC-Ni/PANI showed excellent microwave absorption with respect to OMC-Ni. ► This effect could be mainly attributed to the improvement of impendence matching.