Synthesis of PPy/Ni/RGO and enhancement on its electromagnetic wave absorption performance

The ternary composites of hollow tubular polypyrrole (PPy) and Ni particles based on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) were synthesized by a low-energy method. PPy and Ni particles were uniformly distributed on the surface of RGO. Specifically, multilayer interfaces existed in the hybrid, residual defects and folded structures of RGO and the hollow tubular structures of PPy made a significant contribution to electromagnetic (EM) wave attenuation. The final results showed that the strongest reflection loss (RL) value of PNR-2 sample could achieve − 47.32 dB at 5.76 GHz. The PNR-3 sample's RL value was − 18.21 dB at 15.92 GHz with the thickness of only 1.5 mm, and its corresponding effective absorption bandwidth reached 4.32 GHz (13.68-18 GHz). Hence, with the changes of PPy mass ratio, the impedance matching and attenuation were regulated to realize remarkable EM wave absorption performance including lightweight, thin thickness, wide bandwidth and strong absorption.