Fabrication of akhtenskite nanowires and their enhanced microwave absorption properties

Novel akhtenskite (K-MnO₂) nanowires were synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method at low temperature. The prepared nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XPS), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The excellent absorption performance of the nanocomposites was firstly evaluated by vector network analyzer. The results indicate that when the thickness is 2 mm, with a filler content of 20 wt%, the minimum reflection loss can reach -40.80 dB at 12.72 GHz, and the absorbing peak of K-MnO₂/paraffin nanocomposites shifts towards lower frequency as the thickness increases. The enhanced mechanism was also studied.