Ternary Nickel/Molybdenum Dioxide/Carbon composited nanofibers for broadband and strong electromagnetic wave absorption

One-dimensional carbon-based nanofibers are considered as a group of the most promising candidates applied in electromagnetic wave absorption owing to their shape anisotropy, tractability, and stability. To further meet the requirements of lightweight, broadband and effective features, in this work, nickel/carbon nanofibers modified with molybdenum dioxide were resoundingly fabricated through electrospinning and subsequent carbonization. According to textural characteristic analyses, nickel nanoparticles with a diameter of approximately 30 nm were supported on the surface of the carbon nanofibers, while the smaller MoO2 grains were embedded inside. Under the premise of realizing an outstanding electromagnetic wave absorption intensity (−64.0 dB at 8.0 GHz), the ternary composites achieved a wide effective absorption bandwidth up to 6.9 GHz (9.5 GHz–16.4 GHz). Based on the investigations of electromagnetic parameters and field distribution simulation results, the interwoven network structure and the synergistic effect between each component not only endowed the materials with perfect impedance matching, but introduced manifold loss mechanisms including magnetic loss, conductivity loss and multiple polarization relaxation. Thus, this work provided theoretical guidance and enlightenment for the design of new generation fibrous electromagnetic wave absorbers.