Acta Phys. -Chim. Sin.

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Electromagnetic wave absorbing properties of ZIF-8@Fe3O4/GNs composites optimized by 3D-2D-1D microstructure

Luohan Wang1, Hanhong Deng1, Liyuan Sun1, Haifeng Li2, Nan Sun1   

  1. 1 Center for Innovative Research in Synthetic Chemistry and Resource Utilization, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, Heilongjiang Province, China;
    2 School of Automotive Materials, Hubei University of Automotive Technology, Shiyan 442002, Hubei Province, China
  • Received:2026-06-04 Revised:2026-08-22 Accepted:2026-08-31

Abstract: With the intensification of electromagnetic pollution, high-performance microwave absorbing materials featuring thin thickness, light weight, broad bandwidth and strong absorption are in urgent demand. In this work, a ternary ZIF-8@Fe3O4/graphite nanosheet (GNs) composite with a unique 3D-2D-1D hierarchical microstructure was rationally designed and synthesized. Different from most reported ZIF-8-based absorbers with a single polyhedral structure, this work realized controllable modulation of ZIF-8 morphology between two-dimensional (2D) leaf-like nanosheets and three-dimensional (3D) rhombic dodecahedra by tuning the molar ratio of Zn2+ to 2-methylimidazole. Furthermore, one-dimensional (1D) short carbon nanotubes were in-situ grown on the composite surface through the catalytic effect of reduced metal particles during high-temperature calcination, constructing a cross-dimensional hierarchical structure. The optimized composite exhibited excellent electromagnetic wave absorption performance: the maximum effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) reached 5.12 GHz at a matching thickness of only 1.6 mm. CST numerical simulations verified that the composite still maintained satisfactory absorption performance when applied as a functional coating. The superior absorption performance originates from good impedance matching, as well as the synergistic effect of multiple polarization mechanisms, conduction loss and magnetic loss enabled by the 3D-2D-1D hierarchical structure. This work provides a new structural design strategy for the development of high-performance ZIF-based microwave absorbing materials.

Key words: ZIF-8, GNs, Hierarchical microstructure, Electromagnetic wave absorption, Impedance matching