Facile synthesis of a lightweight three-dimensional polymer scaffold dip-coated with multiple layers of TiO2 aerogel for X-band microwave absorption applications

摘要

The multi-layer TiO2 aerogel-coated polymer scaffold (PS) composite containing 5 wt% of Fe3O4 nano-particles was synthesized via the chemical liquid deposition of multiple layers of TiO2 aerogel onto the macroporous PS. The combination of the toughness, magnetic, and lightweight nature of the PS and the excellent microwave absorption properties of TiO2 specify that the composite could be used as a novel microwave absorbing material. The surface morphological results indicate that the pores of PS were mostly filled and covered by the TiO2 aerogel. The PS was used to reduce the weight of the microwave absorber, while the porous TiO2 aerogel and Fe3O4 particles were introduced to provide enhancement in the microwave absorption properties of the composite. Although the pristine PS showed 40% microwave absorption in the X-band region, the 10-times dip-coated TiO2 aerogel-PS composite enhanced the microwave absorption up to 70%, and this value reached 80% for the 15-times dip-coated sample. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.