Construction of attapulgite-based 1D nano-network composites with corrosion resistance for efficient microwave absorption

Exploring high-efficient and broadband microwave absorption (MA) materials with corrosion resistance and low cost is urgently needed for widely practical applications. Herein, the natural porous attapulgite (ATP) nanorods embedded with TiO2 and polyaniline (PANI) nanoparticles are synthesized via heterogeneous precipitation and in-situ polymerization. The obtained PANI-TiO2-ATP one-dimensional nanostructures can intertwine into three-dimensional conductive network, which is favored for the energy dissipation. The minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of PANI-TiO2-ATP coating (20wt%) reaches -49.36 dB at 9.53 GHz，and the effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) can reach 6.53 GHz with a thickness of 2.1 mm. The excellent microwave absorption properties are attributed to the interfacial polarization, multiple losses mechanisms and good impedance matching induced by the synergistic effect of PANI-TiO2 nanoparticle shells and ATP nanorods. In addition, salt spray and Tafel polarization curve tests reveal that the PANI-TiO2-ATP coating shows outstanding corrosion resistance performance. This study provides a low-cost and high efficiency strategy to construct one dimensional nano-networks composites for microwave absorption and corrosion resistance applications using natural porous ATP nanorods as a carrier.