Nano-absorbers via in-situ surface modification engineering with self-forming heterointerfaces and prominent electromagnetic wave absorption

Abstract

Surface modification engineering has greatly promoted the flourishing development of Fe-based electromagnetic wave absorbers (EMWAs). However, there remains challengeable dilemma in modifying surfaces effectively and simply. Herein, an in-situ surface modification strategy was proposed to successfully design heterogenous nano-absorbers composed of Fe-B-P core and self-forming shell in one step. The nano-absorbers show excellent electromagnetic wave absorption ability, owing to moderate impedance matching and multiple attenuation mechanisms derived from the synergistic effect of ultrafine size and plentiful heterointerfaces. Specifically, NA1 exhibits minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of -52.93 dB at 12.95 GHz and effective absorption band (EAB) of ~5.01 GHz with a matching thickness of 2 mm. A strong RLmin (-48.09 dB at 16.60 GHz) with wide EAB (4.61 GHz) is realized at an ultra-thin thickness of 1.5 mm for NA2. The radar cross-section simulation confirms that the nano-absorbers could drastically reduce the radar echo, making it a potential radar stealth material. This work provides a promising in-situ surface modification method for structural design and facile fabrication of high-performance EMWAs, which possesses potential practicality in reducing electromagnetic pollution and achieving antiradar stealth.