In this study, yolk-shell Ni@SnO composites with a designable interspace were successfully prepared by the simple acid etching hydrothermal method. The Ni@void@SnO composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The results indicate that interspaces exist between the Ni cores and SnO shells. Moreover, the void can be adjusted by controlling the hydrothermal reaction time. The unique yolk-shell Ni@void@SnO composites show outstanding electromagnetic wave absorption properties. A minimum reflection loss (RL) of -50.2 dB was obtained at 17.4 GHz with absorber thickness of 1.5 mm. In addition, considering the absorber thickness, minimal reflection loss, and effective bandwidth, a novel method to judge the effective microwave absorption properties is proposed. On the basis of this method, the best microwave absorption properties were obtained with a 1.7 mm thick absorber layer (RL= -29.7 dB, bandwidth of 4.8 GHz). The outstanding electromagnetic wave absorption properties stem from the unique yolk-shell structure. These yolk-shell structures can tune the dielectric properties of the Ni@air@SnO composite to achieve good impedance matching. Moreover, the designable interspace can induce interfacial polarization, multiple reflections, and microwave plasma.

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The Ni/ZnO composites show two wide attractive absorption bands, which could broaden the effective absorption bandwidth.