3D printing “wire-on-sphere” hierarchical SiC nanowires / SiC whiskers foam for efficient high-temperature electromagnetic wave absorption

doi:10.1016/j.jmst.2021.08.054

Abstract

Abstract:

Electromagnetic wave absorption (EWA) materials for use in extreme environments are of great interest. Herein, SiC nanowires / SiC whiskers (SiC_nw/SiC_w) foam with unique “wire-on-sphere” hierarchical structure was developed for efficient high-temperature EWA. SiC_w were assembled to porous SiC_w spheres via spray drying and then SiC_w spheres were 3D printed to SiC_w foam. The catalyst-free precursor infiltration pyrolysis process was first developed to ensure that SiC_nw can intentionally grow in situ on the surface of SiC_w spheres, thereby achieving “wire-on-sphere” hierarchical structure foam. At room-temperature, the maximum electromagnetic wave effective absorption bandwidth (EAB_max) and minimum electromagnetic wave reflection coefficient (RC_min) of SiC_nw/SiC_w foam can reach 4 GHz and -57 dB, respectively. At 600 °C, the EAB_max and RC_min were 3 GHz and -15 dB, respectively. Furthermore, even oxidized at 1000-1500 °C, SiC_nw/SiC_w foam can still retain EAB_max ranging from 2.7 to 3.9 GHz and RC_min ranging from -16 dB to -64 dB, because the formation of SiO₂ layer with appropriate thickness can boost interfacial polarization and regulate impedance matching. The SiC_nw/SiC_w foam also shows the flexural strength as high as 17.05 MPa. All results demonstrate that the SiC_nw/SiC_w foam is a promising EWA material for applications of harsh environments. And the material-independent “wire-on-sphere” hierarchical structure and its novel preparation process should find the widespread use in the design and fabrication of high-efficiency EWA micro-nano materials.

Key words: “wire-on-sphere” hierarchical structure, SiC nanowires, SiC whiskers, 3D printing, High-temperature electromagnetic wave, absorption

Xinyuan Lv, Fang Ye, Laifei Cheng, Litong Zhang. 3D printing “wire-on-sphere” hierarchical SiC nanowires / SiC whiskers foam for efficient high-temperature electromagnetic wave absorption[J]. J. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2022, 109: 94-104.

Figures/Tables 11

Fig. 1. The preparation process diagram of SiCnw/SiCw foam.

Fig. 2. “Wire-on-sphere” hierarchical structure of SiCnw/SiCw foam. (a) SiCnw/SiCw foam is formed by natural stacking of many (b) “wire-on-sphere” structural units, and each “wire-on-sphere” structural unit is composed of (c) SiCw of micro-scale and (d) SiCnw of nanoscale.

Fig. 3. Morphology and phase composition evolution of SiCnw/SiCw foam during preparation process. SEM images of (a) original SiCw, (b) single SiCw sphere, (c) SiCw foam, (d) SiCnw/SiCw foam, and (e) the neighboring “wire-on-sphere” structure in SiCnw/SiCw foam. (f) XRD patterns of original SiCw, SiCw foam, SiCnw/SiCw foam.

Fig. 4. Morphology and microstructure of SiCnw. (a) an individual “wire-on-sphere” structure consists of SiCnw and SiCw. (b) High-magnification SEM image and EDS (inset in (b)) of the SiCnw. (c) TEM image of SiCnw and the corresponding FFT pattern (inset in (c)). (d) HRTEM image of SiCnw in (c). (e) HRTEM image of the stacking fault from (d). (f) TEM image of SiCw and the corresponding SAED pattern and HRTEM image (inset in (f)).

Fig. 5. Room-temperature EWA performance of SiCnw/SiCw foam and SiCw foam. Dependence of (a) complex permittivity and (b) loss tangent on frequency in X-band. RC and |Zin-1| (inset in (d)) of (c) SiCnw/SiCw foam and (d) SiCw foam in X-band at different thicknesses.

Fig. 6. High-temperature EWA performance of SiCnw/SiCw foam and SiCw foam. Dependence of (a) ε', (b) ε", and (c) tan δ on measurement temperature (100-600 °C). (d) RC and EAB (inset in (d)) of SiCnw/SiCw foam at different temperature (100-600 °C) at their optimum thickness. (e) RC of SiCw foam at different temperatures. (f) Dependance of |Zin-1| on frequency for SiCnw/SiCw foam and SiCw foam at 100-600 °C.

Fig. 7. The permittivity at 10 GHz, RC curves with a maximum EAB, EABmax-RCmin plot of (a, b, c) SiCnw/SiCw foam and (d, e, f) SiCw foam after oxidation at 1000-1500 °C for 1 h.

Fig. 8. (a) TG curve of SiCnw/SiCw foam from 30 °C to 1500 °C in air. (b) Thickness of SiO2 layer on SiCnw and SiCw after oxidation at different temperatures. (c) Diameter ratio of SiO2 layer to SiCnw and SiCw after oxidation at different temperatures. Dependance of (d) |Zin-1| and (e) attenuation constant on frequency for oxidized and original SiCnw/SiCw foam. (f) ε'-ε" plot of SSF-1500. (g) Typical TEM images of SiCnw coated with SiO2 layer from all oxidized samples.

Fig. 9. Schematic for the EWA mechanisms of the “wire-on-sphere” hierarchical structure SiCw/SiC foam.

Table 1. Performance comparison of high-temperature EWA materials.

Empty Cell	Room-temperature (25 °C)		High-temperature (600 °C)		Performance retention after oxidation		Empty Cell
Materials	RC_min	EAB_max	RC_min	EAB_max	RC_min	EAB_max	Refs.
Empty Cell	(dB)	(GHz)	(dB)	(GHz)	(dB)	(GHz)	Empty Cell
SiC_nw/SiOC	-18.7	1.78					[30]
SiC/C	-20	7					[33]
Porous SiOC	-39.13	4.64					[34]
SiC_f/Si₃N₄	-13	4.8	-13	2.5			[31]
SiC_f/SiC-SiC_nw	-16.5	1.3	-47.5	2.8			[29]
SiC/SiC_nw	-43	4					[15]
Binary SiC	-29	3.2	-51	3.2			[17]
Binary SiC	-47	3.2	-51	2			[18]
SiC_nw/Si₃N_4nb	-45	8.4	-26	4.2			[16]
Graphene@Fe₃O₄/SiBCN	-43.78	3.2	-15	3.2	-57 (300 °C, 2 h)	1.97	[32]
Graphene@Fe₃O₄/SiBCN					-66 (600 °C, 2 h)	2.69
SiC_nw/SiC_w foam	-57	4	-15	3	-64 (1000 °C, 1 h)	3.4	This work
					-50 (1100 °C, 1 h)	3.1
					-21 (1200 °C, 1 h)	2.9
					-16 (1300 °C, 1 h)	2.7
					-27 (1400 °C, 1 h)	3.9
					-38 (1500 °C, 1 h)	3.3

Fig. 10. Stress-displacement curves of SiCw foams and SiCnw/SiCw foams.

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