Enhanced electromagnetic wave absorption performance of core-shell Fe₃O₄@poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) microspheres/reduced graphene oxide composite

Core-shell Fe₃O₄@poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) microspheres are compounded with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) to prepare Fe₃O₄@PEDOT/rGO composite as an efficient electromagnetic (EM) wave absorber. The microstructure, element composition, morphology and saturation magnetization are characterized, and EM wave absorption properties are analyzed in the frequency range of 2.0–18.0 GHz. The results show that PEDOT is polymerized on the surface of Fe₃O₄ microspheres, and prepared core-shell microspheres are supported on rGO nanosheets. The reflection loss (RL) of Fe₃O₄@PEDOT/rGO composite is −48.8 dB at 9.12 GHz, and effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) (RL < −10 dB) is 4.32 GHz, when the matching thickness is 2.9 mm. Additionally, when the matching thickness is 2.1 mm, the EAB covers 7.20 GHz. The excellent absorption performance benefits from good impedance matching, attenuation characteristic, synergistic effect of dielectric and magnetic loss, and the absorption mechanism is explained in detail in the article. Furthermore, radar cross section (RCS) analysis is adopted to simulate and calculate EM scattering performance of Al metal plate with absorption coating. The results demonstrate that Fe₃O₄@PEDOT/rGO composite exhibits enhanced absorption performance and can be used as an excellent EM wave absorber.