Biomimetic Feather-Inspired CuHBT Superhydrophobic Hierarchical Architectures for Dual-Protection Excellence in...

Despite remarkable advancements in microwave absorption materials (MAMs) for electromagnetic shielding, achieving the synergistic fusion of efficient microwave absorption and enduring corrosion resistance persists as a daunting scientific challenge. While conventional multi-phase composite strategies attain dual-protection functionality, persistent intrinsic property mismatches fundamentally undermine the reconciliation of MA performance and anti-corrosion capabilities. Thus, pioneering structural engineering of single-component systems to simultaneously enable electromagnetic attenuation and corrosion resistance emerges as a transformative frontier. Drawing inspiration from ingenuity in feather wing hierarchies, a breakthrough ligand exchange strategy is pioneered to meticulously engineer 2D stacked Cu/4-hydroxyphenylthiol (CuHBT) superhydrophobic nanosheets with multiscale morphological tunability through precise stoichiometric modulation. The optimized CuHBT-2 manifested exceptional MA performance, delivering a remarkable minimal reflection loss (RL_min) of -53.06 dB at 2.9 mm thickness alongside a record-breaking ultra-wide effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 8.80 GHz spanning X and Ku bands. This extraordinary achievement arises from its hierarchical stacked architecture, which artfully extends electromagnetic wave propagation pathways while amplifying interlayer polarization-governed dielectric dissipation. Moreover, CuHBT-2-0.7% coatings exhibited outstanding corrosion resistance, maintaining an impressive 92.88% protection efficiency after 21 days of rigorous salt spray testing, triumph stemming from the synergistic interplay of a robust 2D physical barrier and coordination-activated sacrificial passivation dynamics.