Hierarchical carbon nanotubes-modified heterogeneous composites derived from melamine-mixed ZIF-67/MXene for broadband microwave absorption

In this paper, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) modified TiO2/C/Co@C composites (TiO2/C/Co@C(CNTs)) with good electromagnetic (EM) wave properties were synthesized originated from ZIF-67/MXene composites supplemented with external carbon source melamine by in situ synthesis and high temperature pyrolysis. The effect of the melamine content on the microstructure, EM parameters, and the microwave absorption (MWA) properties of the TiO2/C/Co@C(CNTs) composites was investigated. The results showed that the in-situ grown CNTs were organically connected to the pyrolyzed ZIF-67/MXene derivatives to form a hybrid network structure. The composites achieve the minimum reflection loss (RLmin) value of −47.52 dB at a thickness of 1.5 mm, the effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 5.06 GHz at 1.8 mm with the RLmin value of −41.35 dB, and the RLmin value of −52.43 dB at 6.18 GHz. The excellent EM wave attenuation ability of the TiO2/C/Co@C(CNTs) composites covers nearly the entire frequency band of 2–18 GHz with the RLmin value almost less than −30 dB in the thickness of 1.5–5.0 mm. The unique microstructure, dielectric-magnetic synergistic effect, and multiple interfacial polarization optimize the impedance matching. This word proposes a promising new strategy for constructing highly efficient MOF-derived and MXene-based microwave absorbers.