Electromagnetic wave absorption and corrosion resistance performance of carbon nanoclusters/Ce-Mn co-doped barium ferrite composite materials

For realizing the application of electromagnetic wave absorption (EWA) devices in the marine humid environment, the bifunctional electromagnetic wave absorption materials with better EWA capacity and anti-corrosion character present an exploration significance and systematic research requirement. Through using low-cost, excellent magnetic and stable chemical characters of ferrite (BaFe12O19) and using high dielectric loss and excellent chemical inertia characters of nano-carbon clusters, a new type of nanocomposites with carbon nanoclusters encapsulating barium ferrite (BaFe12O19) was designed and synthesized by combining an impregnation method and a high-temperature calcination strategy. Furthermore, Ce-Mn ions were introduced into the BaFe12O19 lattice to improve the dielectric and magnetic properties of BaFe12O19 cores significantly, and the energy band structure of the doped lattice and the orders of Ce replacing Fe site were calculated and shown. Benefiting from Ce-Mn ion doping and carbon nanoclusters encapsulating, the composite material exhibits excellent dual functionality of corrosion resistance and electromagnetic wave absorption. When the BaCe0.2Mn0.3Fe11.5O19-C (BCM-C) was calcined at 600°C, the minimum reflection loss of -20.1 dB was achieved at 14.43 GHz. The Ku band’s effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 4.25 GHz was realized at an absorber thickness of only 1.3 mm. The BaCe0.2Mn0.3Fe11.5O19-C / Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coating has excellent corrosion resistance in the simulated marine environment (3.5wt% NaCl solution). The |Z|0.01Hz value of BaCe0.2Mn0.3Fe11.5O19-C remains at 106 Ω after 12 soaking days. The successful preparation of barium ferrite composite encapsulated with carbon nanoclusters provides new insights for the preparation of multifunctional absorbent materials and the fabrication of absorbent devices applied in the marine humid environment in the future.