Additive manufacturing of silicon carbide microwave-absorbing metamaterials

SiC is a wave-absorbing material with good dielectric properties, high-temperature resistance, and corrosion resistance, which has great potential for development in the field of high-temperature wave-absorbing. However, SiC is limited by its low impedance-matching performance and single wave-absorbing mechanism. Therefore, compatible metamaterial technologies are required to enhance its wave-absorbing performance further. The electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbing metamaterials can realize perfect absorption of EMWs in specific frequency bands and precise regulation of EMW phase, propagation mode, and absorption frequency bands through structural changes. However, the traditional molding methods for manufacturing complex geometric shapes require expensive molds, involve process complexity, and have poor molding accuracy and other limitations. Therefore, additive manufacturing (AM) technology, through material layered stacking to achieve the processing of materials, is a comprehensive multidisciplinary advanced manufacturing technology and has become the core technology for manufacturing metamaterials. This review introduces the principles and applications of different AM technologies for SiC and related materials, discusses the current status and development trends of various AM technologies for fabricating silicon–carbon-based wave-absorbing metamaterials, summarizes the limitations and technological shortcomings of existing AM technologies for fabricating silicon–carbon-based wave-absorbing metamaterials, and provides an outlook for the future development of related AM technologies.