Enhanced microwave absorption properties of epoxy composites containing graphene decorated with core–shell Fe3O4@polypyrrole nanoparticles

Core–shell Fe3O4@polypyrrole nanoparticles modified reduced graphene oxide (RGO) epoxy composites with enhanced microwave absorption properties was successfully synthesized. The structure, morphology and electromagnetic properties of the as-prepared composites were subsequently characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry and vector network analyzer. Due to the synergic effect between graphene and Fe3O4@polypyrrole, the RGO decorated with FPY epoxy composites exhibit excellent microwave absorption capability. The minimum value of the reflection loss is up to −25.1 dB at 7.1 GHz with a layer thickness of 4 mm and the maximum absorption bandwidth exceeding −10 dB is almost 5 GHz in the range from 13 to 18 GHz with a matching thickness of 2 mm. The as-obtained composites are convinced to be a promising candidate for efficient lightweight microwave absorbing materials.