Ultralight, highly elastic ZrO2/carbon fiber reinforced reduced graphene oxide aerogels with radar and infrared stealth capabilities

Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) aerogels have attracted extensive attention due to their unique physical properties, but their poor mechanical properties and insufficient functionality hinder their further application. In this study, we propose a strategy for fiber-reinforced rGO aerogels for mechanical enhancement and multifunctional applications. We fabricated carbon fibers (CFs) modified with zirconia (ZrO 2 ) particles to enhance rGO aerogels. The resulting aerogels exhibit exceptional lightweight characteristics (8.62 mg cm −3 ) and high compressive deformation up to 90 % (320 kPa), and a low thermal conductivity of 25.3 mW m −1  K −1 . Simultaneously, the aerogel demonstrates excellent electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption performance, with a minimum reflection loss (RL min ) of −62.99 dB at 3.4 mm and an effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 8.19 GHz. The introduction of ZrO 2 achieves three ends with a single effort: it enhances mechanical performance, disrupts thermal conduction pathways within the aerogel framework while simultaneously optimizing impedance matching. This synergistic effect enables dual-band compatibility for radar-infrared stealth applications, demonstrating significant potential for aerospace applications.