Synergistic dielectric regulation strategy of one-dimensional MoO₂/Mo₂C/C heterogeneous nanowires for electromagnetic wave absorption

Dielectric-dielectric nanocomposites with excellent synergistic effects are considered as a prospective avenue for the development of high-performance microwave absorbers. In this work, one-dimensional MoO₂/Mo₂C/C heterogeneous nanowires were synthesized via a straightforward co-precipitation and in situ pyrolysis process. The components were modulated by adjusting the reduction temperatures to achieve tunable electromagnetic parameters thereby optimizing the dielectric loss. The results showed that the optimized MoO₂/Mo₂C/C composite exhibited a minimum reflection loss of −50.7 dB at an ultra-thin thickness of 1.8 mm and an effective absorption bandwidth of 6 GHz at 2.3 mm when the calcination temperature was 700 °C. Based on the studies of electromagnetic parameters and radar cross section simulation outcomes, both the interwoven one-dimensional structure and synergistic effects between the components have endowed the material with good impedance matching and introduced various loss mechanisms such as conductivity loss, multiple polarization relaxation, and multiple reflection/scattering. This work presented a viable strategy for the preparation of one-dimensional MoO₂-based dielectric microwave absorption materials.