Lightweight and High-Performance Electromagnetic Wave Absorbers Based on Hollow Glass Microspheres and Carbon-Supported Ni-Co Composites

Abstract

With the continuous advancement of electromagnetic protection technologies, the development of lightweight electromagnetic wave-absorbing materials with excellent absorption performance has become a critical challenge in the field. In this study, commercially available hollow glass microspheres (HGMs) were employed as templates, and Ni2+/Co2+ metal ions were used to catalyze the polymerization of dopamine (PDA), forming HGM@NixCoy/PDA precursors. Subsequent high-temperature pyrolysis yielded lightweight composite absorbing materials, denoted as HGM@NixCoy/C. This material integrates dielectric loss, conductive loss, magnetic loss, and resonance absorption mechanisms, exhibiting outstanding electromagnetic wave absorption properties. The absorption performance can be effectively tuned by adjusting the Ni-to-Co ratio, with the optimal performance observed at an atomic ratio of 2:3. At a filler loading of 20 wt.%, HGM@Ni2Co3/C achieved an effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 6.83 GHz (ranging from 10.53 to 17.36 GHz) and a minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of −27.26 dB. These results demonstrate that the synergistic combination of hollow glass bubbles and carbon-based magnetic components not only significantly reduces the material density and required filler content but also enhances overall absorption performance, highlighting its great potential in the development of lightweight and high-efficiency electromagnetic wave absorbers.