Dual-functional SiOC ceramics coating modified carbon fibers with enhanced microwave absorption performance

Multi-functional carbon fiber (CF) based composites have great potential as new-type microwave absorption materials (MAMs). However, it was still a huge challenge to integrate antioxidation and MA properties into CF based composites. Herein, the SiOC ceramics coating modified carbon fibers (SiOC/CFs) were prepared by a polymer precursor pyrolysis method. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that the SiOC coating was composed of SiOC, SiO2, and amorphous carbon phases. The SiOC ceramics as dual-functional coating not only heightened the oxidation temperature from 415 °C to 890 °C, but also highly improved the microwave absorbing ability from −12.60 dB to −47.50 dB. The enhanced MA performance could be attributed to multiple reflections in the cross-linked structure, various polarization relaxation processes, and the favorable impedance matching effect. The SiOC ceramics coating as a semiconductor could suppress the skin effect originating from the cross-linked CF network, thus leading to a favorable impedance matching behavior.