Reduced Graphene Oxide-Wrapped Super Dense Fe₃O₄ Nanoparticles with Enhanced Electromagnetic Wave Absorption...

The efficient preparation of electromagnetic wave absorbing materials with low density and excellent electromagnetic wave absorption remains a considerable challenge. In this study, reduced graphene oxide (RGO) wrapped Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized based on one-step reaction by the reduction of graphene oxide (GO), and the generation of super-fine Fe₃O₄ NPs was achieved. The phase structure, chemical composition, micromorphology, and magnetism were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), respectively. The electromagnetic characteristics were evaluated on a vector network analyzer by the coaxial line method. The results showed that super-fine Fe₃O₄ NPs with an average size of 6.18 nm are densely distributed on the surface of graphenes. The RGO/Fe₃O₄ nanocomposites exhibited excellent microwave absorption properties with a minimum reflection loss (RL) of up to -55.71 dB at 6.78 GHz at 3.5 mm thickness and the highest effective absorption bandwidth with RL values exceeding -10 dB is 4.76 GHz between 13.24 and 18 GHz at 1.7 mm thickness. This work provides a concise method for the development of RGO supported super dense Fe₃O₄ nanocomposites for high performance electromagnetic absorption applications.