Regular Article

Morphology-dependent electromagnetic wave absorbing properties of iron-based absorbers: one-dimensional, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional classification

¹ School of Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, PR China
² Institute of Materials for Energy and Environment, State Key Laboratory of Bio-fibers and Eco-textiles, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, PR China
³ State Key Laboratory of Power Transmission Equipment & System Security and New Technology, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400040, PR China
⁴ Institute of Physics & Optoelectronics Technology, Baoji University of Arts and Sciences, Baoji 721016, PR China
⁵ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023, PR China

^* e-mail: wuhongjing@mail.nwpu.edu.cn; koukc@nwpu.edu.cn; wuguanglei@qdu.edu.cn

Received: 31 December 2018
Received in final form: 7 February 2019
Accepted: 28 August 2019
Published online: 27 September 2019

Abstract

Owing to the fast development of wireless techniques at the high-frequency range, the electromagnetic interference problem has been of increasing significance and attracting global attention. It is urgent to develop efficient microwave absorbing materials to attenuate the harmful electromagnetic wave. Iron and Fe-based composites are advantageous in the low-cost and attractive magnetic properties, so they have been widely studied in microwave absorption. This review focuses on the latest advances in nanostructured Fe-based materials including nanostructured iron, Fe/C (carbon nanotubes, nanofibers, nanocapsules, etc.), Fe/semiconductor (TiO₂, MnO₂, ZnO, SiO₂, MoS₂, etc.), Fe/polymer (polyaniline and polypyrrole), FeCo alloy, etc. However, most of these Fe-based materials suffer from the poor impedance matching and oxidation, which seriously impede their implementation as high-performance microwave absorbing materials. In this review, the main synthesis and modification methods, as well as the practical performance of Fe-based microwave absorbing materials are discussed. Moreover, challenges and perspectives of Fe-based composites for further development in microwave absorbing materials are proposed.