CoFe₂O₄nanoparticles dispersed on carbon rods derived from cotton for high-efficiency microwave absorption

Biomass-derived carbon materials have received a surge of scientific attention to develop lightweight and broadband microwave absorbers. Herein, rodlike porous carbon materials derived from cotton have been fabricated with uniformly dispersed CoFe₂O₄nanoparticles via facile and scalable process. The combination of magnetic particles and carbonaceous material is advantageous to realize the magnetic-dielectric synergistic effect which could effectively promote the dissipation of incident waves, giving rise to an optimal reflection loss value of -48.2 dB over a qualified bandwidth (4.8 GHz) at 2.5 mm. The cotton-derived carbon rods with conductive network not only act as a supporter to carry the CoFe₂O₄nanoparticles, but also provide massive heterointerfaces to facilitate the interfacial polarization. In consideration of the renewable and abundant resource of cotton, the as-prepared CoFe₂O₄/C composites would meet the increasing demand of lightweight and highly efficient microwave absorbers.