Microwave absorbing properties of multi-walled carbon nanotubes/polyaniline nanocomposites

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes/polyaniline (MWCNTs/PANI) nanocomposites with high absorbing properties were successfully prepared through in situ chemical polymerization. The corresponding morphologies, microstructures, thermal stabilities and microwave absorbing properties were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Ultraviolet–Visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and vector network analyzer. Results indicated that there were strong interactions between π-bonded surface of MWCNTs and quinoid rings of PANI. In addition, the thermal stabilities and the microwave absorbing properties showed significant improvement due to the synergistic effect of MWCNTs and PANI. The reflection loss (R) of MWCNTs/PANI nanocomposites was lower than −10 dB between 8.2 and 10.2 GHz, and the minimum loss value was −49.6 dB at 8.8 GHz. The improved microwave absorbing properties suggested promising application of MWCNTs/PANI nanocomposites in high-performance microwave absorber.