Highly anisotropic Fe₃C microflakes constructed by solid-state phase transformation for efficient microwave absorption

Soft magnetic materials with flake geometry can provide shape anisotropy for breaking the Snoek limit, which is promising for achieving high-frequency ferromagnetic resonances and microwave absorption properties. Here, two-dimensional (2D) Fe₃C microflakes with crystal orientation are obtained by solid-state phase transformation assisted by electrochemical dealloying. The shape anisotropy can be further regulated by manipulating the thickness of 2D Fe₃C microflakes under different isothermally quenching temperatures. Thus, the resonant frequency is adjusted effectively from 9.47 and 11.56 GHz under isothermal quenching from 700 °C to 550 °C. The imaginary part of the complex permeability can reach 0.9 at 11.56 GHz, and the minimum reflection loss (RL_min) is −52.09 dB (15.85 GHz, 2.90 mm) with an effective absorption bandwidth (EAB_{≤−10 dB}) of 2.55 GHz. This study provides insight into the preparation of high-frequency magnetic loss materials for obtaining high-performance microwave absorbers and achieves the preparation of functional materials from traditional structural materials.