Synthesis and microwave absorption properties of porous vanadium nitride microspheres

Herein, the unique porous vanadium nitride microspheres as electromagnetic wave absorption materials were prepared via solvothermal and ammonia reduction nitridation using NH 4 VO 3 as raw material. The results show that the vanadium nitride microspheres contain residual oxygen, which facilitates impedance matching and interfacial polarization. Besides that, the vanadium nitride microspheres have irregular surfaces and internal mesopores providing suitable impedance matching, interfacial polarization, multiple reflections and scattering. Hence, the superior absorption properties in the X and Ku band are achieved by adjusting the weight ratio of vanadium nitride microspheres-paraffin. The optimal reflection loss for the sample with 20 wt% vanadium nitride microsphere filler loading was − 51.5 dB (X-band). In addition, the strongest reflection loss (RL min ) is − 54.2 dB (Ku-band) and the EAB is 4.14 GHz at 1.91 mm thickness when the filler loading of vanadium nitride microspheres was 25 wt%. It is demonstrated that the high-absorption performance, light weight, and large bandwidth of porous vanadium nitride microspheres offer a new strategy for transition metal nitride electromagnetic wave absorbers.