In-situ synthesis of graphite carbon nitride nanotubes/Cobalt@Carbon with castor-fruit-like structure as high-efficiency electromagnetic wave absorbers.

The increasingly electromagnetic wave (EMW) pollution has rendered the study and development of new, high-efficiency EMW absorbers a sought-after topic. In this study, graphite carbon nitride nanotubes/cobalt@carbon (GCNNs/Co@C) composites were fabricated using an in-situ synthesis method, which included facile grinding and carbonization pyrolysis. The synthesized GCNNs/Co@C composites exhibited a unique castor-fruit-like structure, that is, GCNNs formed an entwined three-dimensional (3D) network structure on the surface of cobalt@carbon (Co@C), which improved the EMW absorption properties of composites. The obtained GCNNs/Co@C composites exhibited excellent EMW absorption performance. For the fabricated GCNNs/Co@C composites, the minimum reflection loss (RL) value reached -63.90 dB at a thickness of 1.96 mm, and the effective absorption bandwidth (EAB, RL ≤  -10 dB) achieved 4.44 GHz at an ultra-thin thickness of 1.51 mm. The EAB covered the entire X and Ku bands (6.96-18.00 GHz) through thickness adjustment from 1.51 to 2.50 mm. Underlying EMW absorption mechanisms were briefly discussed. This study presents a novel design method to prepare light-weight and highly-efficient EMW absorbing absorbers.