Research progress of transition metal carbide-based composites for microwave absorption

The expansionary progression in electromagnetic (EM) technology brings convenience to production and life, but it also generates serious EM radiation, giving rise to information leakage and threatening human health. EM absorbers have attracted significant attention from researchers as an effective approach to mitigate EM radiation. Transition metal carbides give advantageous EM wave performance and reside at the frontier of absorbers due to their exceptional physical and chemical properties of high electrical conductivity, affluent functional tunability, stable chemical characteristics. This review focuses on the notable progress in the research on transition metal carbide-based composites, encompassing single Ti3C2Tx MXenes, multi-component Ti3C2Tx MXenes composites, and multi-component Mo2C composites, as well as exploring the auxiliary attenuation effect of structures. The shortcoming and challenge of these carbides, like lack of low-frequency absorption, scarce effective absorption bandwidth, and unelucidated attenuation mechanism are also raised. This review provides an overview of the current state of Ti3C2Tx MXenes and Mo2C composites, offering valuable insights into the properties and potential applications of transition metal carbide-based composites.