Electromagnetic wave absorption in polyaniline coated Y3Fe5O12/Carbon-Black hybrid composites

Y3Fe5O12(YIG)(1-x)/Carbon-Black(CB)(x) (0.00 <= x <= 1.00; 0.25 steps) coated with polyaniline (PANI), forming a core-shell structure, were synthesized by in-situ polymerization following sol-gel and solid-state reactions. The crystalline, surface morphology and magnetic properties of YIG(1-x)/CBx and PANI@YIG(1-x)/CBx hybrid composites were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), respectively. Electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbing properties were investigated by measuring dielectric parameters in the 2-18 GHz frequency range. The reflection loss (RL), impedance matching, and loss tangent were studied in detail. The electromagnetic wave absorbing mechanisms were discussed by considering dielectric and magnetic losses, as well as microstructural properties of the samples. The EMW absorbing performance of the YIG(1-x)/CBx composites showed a broadband absorption property (7.0 GHz bandwidth at -10 dB reflection loss value) in YIG(0.75)/CB0.25 composite. When the composites are covered with conductive PANI, the EMW absorbing performance is enhanced in terms of RL (minimum -36.5 dB) and effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) (maximum 10.2 GHz at -10 dB) values due to increasing scattering probability, interfacial polarization and conduction loss of the penetrated EMW. The results showed that a wider absorption frequency range could be obtained by coating PANI on YIG/CB composite.