Improved polarization loss and impedance matching induced by carbon paper-based magnetic heterostructured composites for lightweight and strong microwave absorption

Constructing different strategies for exploiting lightweight efficient microwave absorbers (MAs) has always been a great concern. In this work, zero-dimensional (0D)/two-dimensional (2D) carbon paper (CP)-based magnetic heterostructured composites (HSCs) including nickel/CP (Ni/CP) and iron/CP (Fe/CP) were selectively and efficiently produced through a facile soaking, drying and thermal treatment process. The obtained 0D/2D Ni/CP and Fe/CP magnetic HSCs showed the representative paper-like morphologies and ultra-lightweight characteristics. The Ni and Fe contents in the designed 0D/2D Ni/CP and Fe/CP HSCs were effectively modulated by controlling the concentrations of Ni and Fe sources. Owing to improved contribution of polarization loss and impedance matching properties, the acquired results demonstrated that the Ni/CP and Fe/CP magnetic HSCs presented excellent microwave absorption properties including thin matching thicknesses, broad absorption bandwidths and strong absorption capacities. Therefore, our findings presented a facile strategy for constructing 0D/2D CP-based magnetic HSCs as novel, and lightweight high-efficient MAs.