Synthesis and high-performance microwave absorption of graphene foam/polyaniline nanorods

•The composites of graphene foam/PANI nanorods were fabricated by a two step method.•PANI nanorods are perpendicularly grown on the surface of graphene foam.•The maximum reflection loss of graphene foam/PANI nanorods is −52.5 dB at 13.8 GHz.•The absorption bandwidths exceeding −10 dB are 12.2 GHz in the range of 1.5–4 mm.

A novel structure of graphene foam/PANI nanorods (GF/PANI nanorods) were fabricated by a two step method, including synthesize of graphene foam using self-assembly method and in situ polymerization of PANI nanorods on the surface of graphene foam. The structure of GF/PANI nanorods was characterized by FTIR, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, XPS and FESEM. The electromagnetic parameters indicate that GF/PANI nanorods exhibit high-performance microwave absorption properties compared with sole graphene foam. The maximum RL is up to −52.5 dB at 13.8 GHz and the absorption bandwidths exceeding −10 dB are 12.2 GHz with a thickness in the range of 1.5–4 mm. The possible absorption mechanism of GF/PANI nanorods was also investigated in detail. Our results indicate that the deposition of PANI nanorods on graphene foam is an efficient way to synthesize excellent microwave absorbers.