Lightweight, Elastic Ceramic Fabrics for Broadband Electromagnetic Absorption and High Temperature Thermal Insulation

With the rapid advancement of communication and radar detection in aerospace applications, developing a high-performance electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorber with mechanical elasticity and high-temperature thermal insulation remains urgent and challenging. Here, lightweight, elastic SiBCNZr ceramic nanofiber fabrics with outstanding electromagnetic absorption (EMA) and high-temperature thermal insulation were developed by precisely controlling the microstructure during ultrafast high-temperature sintering (UHS). The fabrics achieved a minimum reflection loss (RL_min) of -83.33 dB and an effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 9.8 GHz, covering the entire X- and Ku-bands. This performance arose from a balance between impedance matching and EMW attenuation, enabled by UHS-controlled precipitation of defect-rich t-ZrO₂ nanograins and turbostratic C nanoclusters. Furthermore, the fabrics showed elastic resilience up to 60% compressive strain, attributed to defect-assisted dislocation activity, interfacial accommodation, nanoscale fiber diameters, and weak inter-fiber friction. Finally, the fabrics exhibited excellent thermal insulation (∆T ≈ 900°C) and low thermal conductivity (0.0603 W·m^-1·K^-1), because heat transport in both the solid and gas phases was suppressed by nanoscale grains, grain defects, abundant heterointerfaces, and high porosity. This work establishes an effective strategy for simultaneously enhancing EMA, mechanical elasticity, and thermal insulation, highlighting the potential of these fabrics for advanced aerospace applications.