Review of Dielectric Carbide, Oxide, and Sulfide Nanostructures for Electromagnetic Wave Absorption

Following the growth of infotech and electronic industries, electromagnetic-wave-absorbing materials play an essential role in the traction of the need for high-precision weaponry and intelligent electronic equipment. The exploitation of high-performance electromagnetic-wave-absorbing materials has emerged as a strategic challenge to be solved in the upgrading of military equipment and civil electromagnetic security. The more maturely studied absorbing materials (carbon, ferrite, etc.) have a single loss mechanism and poor resistance matching, which are already not enough to cover the basic needs. To explore absorbing materials that satisfy both impedance matching and attenuation balance, dielectric nanomaterials have come to the fore. They can realize light weight, thin layer, broad band, and multiband, which have great application prospects. In this review, we start with a summary of typical dielectric loss mechanisms (interfacial polarization, dipole polarization, and conduction loss). Next, diverse carbides, oxides, sulfides, and their composites with dielectric or magnetic materials are described, and the nanostructure advantages and wave-absorbing performance advantages are investigated. Then, the applications of wave-absorbing materials are depicted. Lastly, the challenges faced by dielectric-type materials are outlined, and future development trends are foreseen. Overall, this review offers an overview of the advances in the study of dielectric nanoabsorbing materials.