Facile preparation of in situ coated Ti3C2Tx/Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 composites and their electromagnetic performance

A novel family of Ti3C2Tx/ferrite composites with high reflection loss was developed using a facile in situ co-precipitation method. The as-synthesized Ti3C2Tx/ferrite composite with a 5 wt% Ti3C2Tx MXenes loading exhibited high reflection loss (−42.5 dB) at 13.5 GHz. The effective absorption bandwidth of the 5 wt% Ti3C2Tx/Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 composite reached ∼3 GHz (12–15 GHz) in the K-band. The incorporation of Ti3C2Tx MXenes improved the electromagnetic impedance of the Ti3C2Tx/Ni0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4 composite resulting from the enhanced electrical conductivity. The potential electromagnetic wave absorption mechanisms were revealed, which may contain magnetic loss, dielectric loss, conductivity loss, multiple reflections, and scattering. The technique is facile, fast, scalable, and favorable for the commercialization of this composite. This study provides a potential way to develop EM wave absorbing materials for a large family of MXenes/ferrite composites.