Novel Magnéli Ti₄O₇/Ni/poly(vinylidene fluoride) hybrids for high-performance electromagnetic wave absorption

Taking consideration of the high conductive Magnéli phase titanium oxides due to the formation of special oxygen vacancies, the combination of dielectric titanium oxides and magnetic metals will prompt to form a good impedance matching, which can be a candidate for a new generation of absorbing materials. Herein, Magnéli Ti₄O₇/Ni/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) composites were designed and prepared by means of high-temperature pyrolysis, hydrothermal reduction, and hot press for the first time. Remarkably, in comparison to the pure Ti₄O₇, the minimum reflection loss of Ti₄O₇/Ni/PVDF hybrid is −40.5 dB with a thickness of 2 mm. Such result demonstrates that the Ti₄O₇/Ni/PVDF hybrid will be useful for designing an ideal absorber with dielectric materials as the core and magnetic nanoparticles as the shell for high efficiency, low filler, and lightweight microwave absorption. Graphical abstract: The core–shell structured Ti₄O₇/Ni/PVDF composite shows the optimal microwave absorption capability with an RL_min of − 40.5 dB at 2mm thickness which is promising as a candidate for next-generation high-performance absorbing materials. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].