Enhanced electromagnetic and microwave absorption properties of carbonyl iron/Ti₃SiC₂/epoxy resin coating

Epoxy resin coating with hybrid carbonyl iron (CI)/Ti₃SiC₂ absorbent is fabricated on aluminium alloy plate. The phase compositions are identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the morphology is characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM). Electromagnetic and microwave absorption properties of the single layer and double layer CI/Ti₃SiC₂/epoxy resin coating are investigated in the frequency range from 8.2 to 12.4 GHz. For the hybrid CI/Ti₃SiC₂ filler, the complex permittivity increases while the complex permeability declines with the rising Ti₃SiC₂ content. The single layer coating with 20 wt.% Ti₃SiC₂ and 80 wt.% CI presents the most desirable microwave absorption properties owing to the synergistic effect of dielectric and magnetic loss mechanism. The double layer coating using CI as the matching layer, 20 wt.% Ti₃SiC₂ and 80 wt.% CI as the dissipating layer, presents better absorption performance than the single layer microwave absorption coating. When the matching layer is 0.6 mm and the dissipating layer is 1.8 mm, the most favorable absorption bandwidth is obtained in the frequency range of 8.5–12.4 GHz with a minimum value of − 18.9 dB at 10.38 GHz.