Metal-organic framework-derived Co/CoO nanoparticles with tunable particle size for strong low-frequency microwave absorption in the S and C bands

Nowadays, constructing strong absorption materials addressing the low-frequency electromagnetic radiation (S and C bands) from electronic devices remains a significant challenge. In this work, size-tunable Co/CoO nanoparticles (NPs) are fabricated by decomposing zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-67) precursors and subsequent hydrogen reduction. All samples show obvious low-frequency attenuation in the S and C bands. At a thin thickness of 2.3 mm, the minimum reflection loss (RL) value for the Co/CoO NPs of 30 nm reaches up to −90.3 dB at 4.4 GHz, and the corresponding effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of RL ≤ −10 dB ranges from 3.8 to 5.4 GHz. Notably, 90 % of the electromagnetic waves can be absorbed in the frequency range of 2.3–13.2 GHz, covering almost the entire S, C, and X bands at a thickness of 1.0–4.0 mm. The strong low-frequency absorption performance is attributed to the nano-porous structure, high conduction loss, tunable dielectric/magnetic loss, as well as optimized impedance matching. These Co/CoO NPs are promising candidates for high-efficient microwave absorbers in the low-frequency application.