Tough and flexible poly(dimethylsiloxane) elastomer reinforced by conductive bacterial cellulose frameworks for high-performance microwave absorber

The development of advanced microwave absorbers with strong absorbing capability and decent mechanical flexibility remains challenging though on great demand for the popularization of the wearable electronic devices. Herein, bacterial cellulose (BC), a natural resource with high strength, is hybridized with conductive polypyrrole (PPy) via a vapor phase polymerization. The uniform wrapping of the PPy onto the surface of BC nanofibers further enhances the BC mechanical properties after infiltration by polydimethylsiloxane. The resultant PPy/BC elastomer exhibits an efficient microwave absorption with a minimum reflection loss of − 62.2 dB and a broadband effective absorption up to 7.02 GHz at the thickness of 2.4 mm. The relatively high microwave dissipating capability originates from the sufficient dielectric loss and well-matched impedance. This work sheds light on the design of green-based microwave absorbers with superior performance inheriting from the biomass resources.