Construction of attapulgite-based one-dimensional nanonetwork composites with corrosion resistance for high-efficiency microwave absorption

Exploring high-efficiency and broadband microwave absorption (MA) materials with corrosion resistance and low cost is urgently needed for wide 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 (1D) nanostructures can intertwine into three-dimensional (3D) conductive network, which favors energy dissipation. The minimum reflection loss (RL_min) of the 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 MA properties are attributed to interfacial polarization, multiple loss 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 for constructing 1D nanonetwork composites for MA and corrosion resistance applications using natural porous ATP nanorods as carriers.