Ni0.6Zn0.4Fe2O4/Ti3C2Tx nanocomposite modified epoxy resin coating for improved microwave absorption and impermeability on cement mortar

Abstract With the rapid development of wireless technology, electromagnetic interference and pollution have been a serious harmful problem to human health. Therefore, it is greatly significant to design and explore efficient electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbing coatings on the surface of devices, mortar or other building materials. In this paper, a series of novel Ni0.6Zn0.4Fe2O4/Ti3C2Tx nanocomposite modified epoxy resins with different additive content were successfully prepared to serve as absorbing and anticorrosive coating on cement mortar. The effect of the content of Ni0.6Zn0.4Fe2O4/Ti3C2Tx nanocomposite in epoxy resin as coatings of cement mortar on mechanical properties, interfacial bonding ability, corrosion performances and reflectivity performances was detailly investigated. Apparently, when 3% Ni0.6Zn0.4Fe2O4/Ti3C2Tx nanocomposite is added into epoxy resin, the cement mortar with modified coatings exhibits the most excellent EMW absorption properties, whose the minimum reflectivity is −34.39 dB, the absorption bandwidth with reflectivity lower than − 10 dB is about 8.96 GHz. Besides, both capillary sorptivity and chloride penetration tests demonstrated that the impermeability of water and chloride ions of cement mortar coated by modified epoxy coatings was obviously improved with the increase of Ni0.6Zn0.4Fe2O4/Ti3C2Tx nanocomposite compared to cement mortar without coatings and with pure epoxy resin coating. In particular, the optimized modified epoxy resin with 3% dosage of Ni0.6Zn0.4Fe2O4/Ti3C2Tx nanocomposite also displays the lowest capillary sorptivity and chloride permeability. Our findings proved that the use of Ni0.6Zn0.4Fe2O4/Ti3C2Tx nanocomposite modified epoxy resin as coatings of cement mortar provides a viable source for solving electromagnetic pollution and impermeability problems in military and civilian applications.