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Flexible design of gradient multilayer nanofilms coated on carbon nanofibers by atomic layer deposition for enhanced microwave absorption performance

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Abstract

Impedance matching is important for achieving high-efficiency microwave absorbers. The high conductivity of dielectric loss materials such as pure metals and carbon nanomaterials generally results in poor absorption owing to the low impedance matching between the absorbers and air. Carbon nanostructures are very promising candidates for high-efficiency absorption because of their attractive features including low density, high surface area, and good stability. Herein, a new strategy is proposed to improve the impedance matching of dielectric loss materials using electrospun carbon nanofibers as an example. The carbon nanofibers are coated with specifically designed gradient multilayer nanofilms with gradually increasing electroconductibility synthesized by doping ZnO with different Al2O3 content (AZO) by atomic layer deposition. The gradient nanofilms are composed of five layers of dielectric films, namely, pure Al2O3, AZO (5:1, the pulse cycle ratio of ZnO to Al2O3), pure ZnO, AZO (10:1), and AZO (20:1). The versatile gradient films serve as intermediate layers to tune the impedance matching between air and the carbon nanofiber surfaces. Therefore, the carbon nanofibers coated with gradient films of rationally selected thicknesses exhibit remarkably enhanced microwave absorption performance, and the optimal reflection loss reaches −58.5 dB at 16.2 GHz with a thickness of only 1.8 mm. This work can help further understand the contribution of impedance matching to microwave absorption. Our strategy is general and can be applied to improve the absorption properties of other dielectric loss materials and even for applications in other fields.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21376256 and 51602322), the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. 2015139), the Research Project of Shanxi Scholarship Council (No. 2013-152), the Hundred Talent Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Hundred Talent Program of Shanxi Province.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Coal Conversion, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan, 030001, China

    Shichao Zhao, Lili Yan, Yequn Liu, Chaoqiu Chen, Yunqin Li, Jiankang Zhang & Yong Qin

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100039, China

    Shichao Zhao, Lili Yan, Xiaodong Tian, Yunqin Li & Jiankang Zhang

  3. Key Laboratory of Carbon Materials, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan, 030001, China

    Xiaodong Tian & Yan Song

  4. Analytical Instrumentation Center, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan, 030001, China

    Yequn Liu

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  1. Shichao Zhao
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  2. Lili Yan
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  3. Xiaodong Tian
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  9. Yong Qin
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Correspondence to Yong Qin.

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12274_2017_1664_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Flexible design of gradient multilayer nanofilms coated on carbon nanofibers by atomic layer deposition for enhanced microwave absorption performance

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Zhao, S., Yan, L., Tian, X. et al. Flexible design of gradient multilayer nanofilms coated on carbon nanofibers by atomic layer deposition for enhanced microwave absorption performance. Nano Res. 11, 530–541 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1664-6

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