J. Mater. Sci. Technol. ›› 2026, Vol. 262: 119-129.DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2025.10.045

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Synergistic 0D/1D/2D engineering of Fe3O4/CNTCs/NiCoCu-LDH heterostructures for enhanced ultrathin broadband electromagnetic wave absorption

Quan Wana,b,1, Bin Zhanga,b,1, Liangchong Yua,b, Taolei Suna,b, Guanbin Gaoa,b,*   

  1. aState Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China;
    bHubei Key Laboratory of Nanomedicine for Neurodegenerative Diseases, School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Life Science, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
  • Received:2025-08-24 Revised:2025-10-20 Accepted:2025-10-20 Published:2026-08-10 Online:2025-10-31
  • Contact: *State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Ma-terials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China. E-mail address: gbgao@whut.edu.cn (G. Gao).
  • About author:1These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract: Composite electromagnetic-wave-absorbing materials demonstrate enhanced performance and more varied absorption mechanisms compared to conventional single-component systems. Combining macrostructural design with micro-material composites offers a promising approach for the development of advanced electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbers. In this study, we present a broadband, ultrathin EMW absorber based on a hierarchically structured composite composed of 0D Fe3O4 nanoparticles, 1D carbon nanotube composite conductive agents (CNTCs), and 2D NiCoCu layered double hydroxide (Fe3O4-NPs/CNTCs/NiCoCu-LDH). This work marks the first application of cost-effective CNTCs in EMW absorption, where their properties are systematically optimized to improve conductivity and impedance matching. The three-dimensional porous heterostructures and micro-material composites promote synergistic loss mechanisms, including polarization, conduction, and magnetic losses. The optimized composite (CNTCs-2) exhibits outstanding performance: a minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of-57.99 dB at 16.53 GHz with an ultrathin thickness of 1.93 mm, and an effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 5.82 GHz (11.50-17.32 GHz) at 2.30 mm. This study illustrates that integrating multicomponent materials—0D Fe3O4 NPs, 1D CNTCs, and 2D NiCoCu-LDH—with structural engineering enables the fabrication of high-performance, low-cost EMW absorbers with scalable potential.

Key words: NiCoCu-LDH, Carbon nanotube composite conductive agents, Magnetic nanoparticles, Electromagnetic wave absorption