Solvothermal assisted synthesis of CoFe2O4/CNTs nanocomposite and their enhanced microwave absorbing properties

Abstract Cobalt ferrite/carbon nanotubes (CoFe2O4/CNTs) nanocomposite absorber materials were synthesized by a simple solvothermal method. The effects of CNTs on the microstructure, electromagnetic and microwave absorbing properties of CoFe2O4 were investigated systematically. Morphological analysis showed a network like structure where CoFe2O4 nanoparticles were connected by carbon nanotubes forming large block-shaped wave absorbers. In addition, the reflection loss of CoFe2O4/CNTs reached -37.39 dB at a thickness of 1.7 mm, along with an effective absorption bandwidth of 5.2 GHz, which shows better absorption ability than pure cobalt ferrite. The wide absorption bandwidth of the fabricated CoFe2O4/CNTs nanocomposite at such a thin thickness is highly desirable for microwave absorbers used in various technological applications.