Self-Assembled Co Nanosheet/Ti₃C₂T_<i>x</i> Composites with Tunable Electromagnetic Wave Absorption

Abstract

Two-dimensional layered Ti3C2Tx is a great potential candidate as an electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorber due to its large specific surface area and abundant functional groups and defects. However, the impedance mismatch caused by the high conductivity and the lack of magnetic loss seriously has limited the application of Ti3C2Tx in EMW absorption. Therefore, Co/Ti3C2Tx composites were prepared by combining Ti3C2Tx with magnetic Co nanosheets through electrostatic self-assembly. It is found that desired EMW absorption performance could be obtained by optimizing the content of Co nanosheet. Specifically, the optimized sample exhibited a minimum reflection loss (RLmin) value of −47.09 dB and an effective absorption bandwidth of 2.76 GHz as the thickness was 3.67 mm. In addition, possible mechanisms of EMW absorption were elucidated in detail. Our results provide a simple and environmentally friendly method for the design of EMW absorbers based on Ti3C2Tx.