Fabrication of graphene/polyimide/Co-N-C aerogel with reinforced electromagnetic losses and broadband absorption for highly efficient microwave absorption and thermal insulation

The fabrication of dielectric/magnetic multicomponent hybrids represents a promising strategy for achieving advanced electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption performances. However, it also poses a significant challenge due to the difficulty in fully utilizing the properties of each component. Here, in this work, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) derived Co-N-C species were combined with graphene oxide/polyamide acid and then freeze-dried and annealed to produce PI/rGO/CNC aerogels. These aerogels exhibit outstanding EMW absorption properties owing to their multiple heterogeneous interfaces and synergetic electromagnetic losses while retaining satisfying mechanical properties and lightweight features of PI/rGO aerogels. In particular, PI/rGO/CNC-1 aerogel shows the optimal EMW attenuation performance with a minimal reflection loss (RL min ) value of –75 dB, and its maximal effective absorption bandwidth (EAB max ) is as broad as 7.28 GHz. Moreover, the lightweight nature, elastic feature, structural stability, thermal insulation and hydrophobicity of the PI/rGO/CNC aerogels ensure that they have vast application prospects as advanced EMW absorption materials in complicated environment.