Synthesis and Microwave Absorption Properties of BiFeO₃ Nanowire-RGO Nanocomposite and First-Principles Calculations for Insight of Electromagnetic Properties and Electronic Structures

Abstract

Here, we report a facile hydrothermal synthesis method to prepare BiFeO3 nanowire-reduced graphene oxide (BFO-RGO) nanocomposites. The unique properties of 2-D reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and 1-D BiFeO3 nanowires (BFO) were exploited to design nanocomposites to obtain high performing microwave absorber materials. The composite with 97 wt % BFO and 3 wt % RGO exhibited minimum reflection loss value of −28.68 dB at 10.68 GHz along with the effective absorption bandwidth (≥ −10 dB) ranging from 9.6 to 11.7 GHz when the absorber thickness was only 1.55 mm. First-principles calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) of BFO, graphene, and BFO-RGO nanocomposites were performed to obtain information about their electronic structures to interpret their complex permittivity and its derived properties. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time investigations on microwave absorption properties of the BiFeO3 nanowire and BFO-RGO nanocomposites have been reported, and this nanocomposite shows its potential to be used as a lightweight, high performing microwave absorber in the X-band region.

Defect Engineering in Two Common Types of Dielectric Materials for Electromagnetic Absorption Applications

“…Compared to traditional easily corroded, narrowbandwidth, and heavy metal materials, dielectric materials (like graphene, graphitized carbon, and semiconductors) are more promising for microwave absorption applications due to their low density, high aspect ratio, fine antioxidation capability, and the ability to be assembled into macroscopic architectures or films. In view of the importance of dielectric materials to improve the microwave absorption performance, lots of researches about dielectrics‐based microwave absorption have been done . Decades of experimental researches have generated a huge body of knowledge on the links between processing and microstructural properties, as well as how they relate to microwave absorption .…”

Preparation and Characterization of Copper Chromium Oxide Nanoparticles Using Modified Sol‐Gel Route and Evaluation of Their Microwave Absorption Properties

“…Thus, polyaniline, SiC, polypyrrole, polythiophene, and carbon nanotube due to the dielectric properties and magnetic materials such as spinel ferrites_ENREF_16, hexagonal ferrites, Fe 0 , Co, and Ni have attracted considerable attentions. Among the dielectric materials, the 2D structures including graphene, MXenes, and graphite‐like carbon nitride play the vital role for microwave absorption and electromagnetic interference shielding. The impedance matching is the vital agent affecting the microwave absorption characteristics, related to the adjustment of the magnetic and dielectric properties of the absorbers .…”

“…The impedance matching is the vital agent affecting the microwave absorption characteristics, related to the adjustment of the magnetic and dielectric properties of the absorbers . Therefore, Various methods have been employed to adjust these properties such as Sol‐Gel, solvothermal, co‐precipitation, and in situ polymerization . Nowadays, conventional sol‐gel route has attracted considerable attentions due to its potential to prepare pure and homogenous mixed oxides while suffers from lack of the sensitive metal alkoxides for moisture and heat as well as unavailability of suitable commercial precursors …”

“…Lu et al prepared light weight and smart absorbers at various temperatures using grape‐like ferroferric oxide and carbon‐nanotubes nanocomposite . Ghosh et al synthesized BiFeO 3 nanowire‐RGO nanocomposite as a light weight and efficient microwave absorber, demonstrated microwave absorption of 28.68 dB at 10.68 GHz with a bandwidth of 2.1 GHz (≥−10 dB) . The microwave absorption properties of the Li 0.3 Zn 0.3 Co 0.1 Fe 2.3 O 4 nanoparticles in multi‐walled carbon nanotubes matrix were studied by Chakrabarti et al exhibited maximum reflection loss about −21 dB at 15.27 GHz .…”

“…The microwave absorption properties of the Li 0.3 Zn 0.3 Co 0.1 Fe 2.3 O 4 nanoparticles in multi‐walled carbon nanotubes matrix were studied by Chakrabarti et al exhibited maximum reflection loss about −21 dB at 15.27 GHz . Recent results have demonstrated that dipole and interfacial polarizations, eddy currents, magnetic saturation, electrical conductivity, natural resonance, multiple scattering, multiple relaxations, electron hopping, exchange resonance, as well as impedance matching are the substantial factors, influencing the microwave absorption properties, provided by multiphase materials . Copper chromite composite oxide is a versatile catalyst and has been employed as a catalyst for chemical reactions such as hydrogenation, dehydrogenation, oxidation, alkylation, etc.…”