Synthesis, characterization and microwave absorption of MXene/NiFe2O4 composites

The MXene/NiFe2O4 nanocomposites with different MXene (Ti3C2) contents were successfully prepared by one-step hydrothermal method. The crystalline structures, morphologies, magnetic and electromagnetic parameters were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer and vector network analyzer. With the increase of MXene content, NiFe2O4 (NFO) particles crystallize from the surface to the interlayer for the large specific surface area of MXene, corresponding with the decrease of grain aggregation. The anisotropy was enhanced for the addition of MXene nanosheet, with the maximum saturation magnetization decreasing from 40.50emu/g for NiFe2O4 to 13.18 emu/g for 40%M/NFO (40%wt, M = MXene and NFONiFe2O4), and the coercivity increasing from 5.12 Oe for NiFe2O4 to 88.29Oe for 40%M/NFO. Compared to NFO, the MXene/NiFe2O4 composite material showed a more significant improvement in the dielectric loss Tangent (tanδε = ε''/ε′), but had little effects on magnetic loss tangent (tanδμ = μ''/μ′). The microwave absorption performance is improved with the introduction of MXene nanosheets. The minimum reflection loss was -41.2 dB at 13.2 GHz for the 40%M/NFO nanocomposite with a thickness of 2.5 mm.